On this Sunday before Thanksgiving, I’m anticipating my son’s arrival home for a few days, my new book going on sale in one month, and the vast pleasure of a family feast. Thanksgiving is a great holiday, and in honor of it, I’m compiling a fast, joyous list of 25 things I love about being a writer.
Why don’t you give it a try, too, and post in the comments section?
1. I never have to wear anything uncomfortable to work. No high heels, no scratchy uniforms, no tight anything. Yoga pants, warm socks, soft pretty sweater and I’m ready to go.
2. I never have to drive to work on snowy days
3. Conversely, on a brilliant December Tuesday morning, I can head out to the trails while everybody else is working
4. I love research, and writing books means I can dive into whatever enthusiasm snags my fancy, and then I can pick a new fancy for the next book, and I can read and read and read and read all about said enthusiasm and…
5. ..Learn new things all the time. All kinds of new things. Obscure things about botany and chemistry, or practical things like how to fix a broken pipe or fire a revolver, or delicious things like how to make pain au chocolat.
6. Writing is never masterable. There is always, always, always something more to learn. For a magpie brain like mine, that’s a powerful thing.
7. I can travel to faraway places and it’s still called work.
8. It’s quiet and I never have to listen to anybody else’s conversation/radio/phone conversations.
9. Reading is part of writing, so I get to read a lot.
10. It’s unbelievably thrilling to see a book in the stores. I’ve never yet seen anyone reading my book out in public, but my sons have.
11. I love opening a book I’ve written and seeing all those sentences that came out of my head…they’re never all brilliant, but wow…they’re mine.
12. I love, love, love reader mail, that connection with a person I would never have met, sometimes from towns I’ve never heard of, or countries I’ll never get to, and we connect, over something so magical as a book.
13. I love being part of the smart, verbal, quirky, clever, strange, eccentric world of publishing. Writers are smart.
14. I love readers. All readers, even if they don’t love my books.
15. I love sitting down to a page and not knowing exactly what’s going to happen, then finding out Something New!
16. I love that taking naps is part of the creative process. Really.
17. I love making collages.
18. I love realizing that I’m shopping for a coat that my character wants to buy, not me.
19. I love the process of structuring a novel, figuring out all the puzzle pieces, seeing how they fit together, or don’t.
20. I love the stack of pages piling up as I print them out, day after day.
21. I love the shelf of books, so concrete and solid, that is the evidence of the way I have spent my days, year after year.
22. I never, ever wonder what my job is on this planet.
23. I love when somebody I’ve known socially finds out I’m a writer and they suddenly have that look of surprise—and yes, awe—on their faces. It might only last a minute, but it reminds me of just how amazing this job is.
24. I love being deep in the Other World, writing and writing and living so deeply in another land that I almost forget this one.
25. I love the anticipation of a new book about to arrive on the shelves, the reviews coming in, the pleasure of seeing a new cover, the delight of offering the book to whoever it is dedicated to. Awesome fun! My next book, THE SECRET OF EVERYTHING is dedicated to my father, and I get to give him a copy of the book on his 70th birthday this Wednesday. How cool is that?
Now you. What do you love about being a writer? Let’s have a big juicy Thanksgiving fest.
No related posts.
I love being able to entertain folks with my books, and I love it when someone e-mails me to let me know how much she’s enjoyed my work.
I love going to conferences and meeting writers and readers who love books just as much as I do.
I love it when my mom reads one of my books and tells me that it’s “better than a Nora Roberts book.” (Even if everyone else on the planet would disagree with her. LOL.)
I could go on, but I’ll stop here. Great post.
I love the tribe of writers I call friends. Only they understand exactly what it is we do every day, understand how we have to answer the demand that drives us to write and understand the voices in our heads. Actually, they’re far more than friends– they’re family– may not always get along with them, but always love them.
I also love that quiet time, when the rest of the house is asleep or deserted and I can be alone with my music and my characters and see where they take me.
Most everything else you mentioned.
Barbara, this is a beautiful post. Thank you!
What I love is a variation of #24: I love that no matter where I am, or how difficult the world outside might be, I’m gifted with the ability to see and transcribe beautiful worlds and people inside my head.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by eromance: 25 Things I Love About Being A Writer http://bit.ly/4BbJ9G…
Wow, it’s tough to add to all those wonderful things. I love hearing my children say they’re proud of me.
I love creating something totally designed by me.
Good ones! I hope more of you actually wrote your list of 25 and were too shy to share it. It’s genuinely fun to play.
And Susan, I was probably greedy writing such a long list, but it’s fun and I couldn’t stop.
I like the fact that writing is supposed to stave off Alzheimer’s apparently – I heard that on the radio today! Take care. Caroline x
I love connecting with other writers and learning more about this great business. I love discovering an author that I’ve never heard of and being able to read as an excuse for work. I love the conversation that being a writer sparks and the freedom to create a world that I want to play in.
Great list, by the way. Couldn’t agree more!
That’s an amazing list, and I have to say I love all those things on there.
I will add one more: The characters I get to hang out with are lots more fun than most “real” people I know. LOL
LOL! Good one, Donna! Me, too.
Forgot, Jessica, about the glom effect. So much fun.
Staves off Alzheimers? That’s great news, Caroline, especially as my son teases me about being absentminded as it is. (Well, if you’re living in another world, you can’t be expected to really be paying attention in this one, now can you???