We love this funny and insightful guest post from Scott Cramer about the highs and lows of being a writer:
Best and worst things about being a writer:
Best – Not having a boss.
Worst – Not having a boss! Once in a while it’s good to be told what to do.
Best – Being selected by a sixth-grade reader to be their “author” in their school author fair. Thank you, Katie.
Best – Naming a tropical storm, ‘Katie’, in my next book, and naming a hurricane (which plays a very big role), ‘David’. David’s Mom is a YA book blogger from Chicago and David pitches in to write reviews every now and then.
Best – Having a reader write to say they are well beyond the young adult years (72 years old) and they loved the book.
Worst – Trying to come up with tweets and facebook posts when I have nothing to say.
Worst – The psychic torment/the pain in the soul/the gut wrenching sense of imbalance that I find myself experiencing during a first draft, which can last for months and months.
Best – Surviving the above.
Worst – You tell someone you have written a book. They immediately respond that they like to read and then tell you about the book they are reading.
Best – Getting to know people from Bulgaria (my cover designer), Portugal, Sweden, UK, and the US (beta readers) and bloggers from everywhere.
Worst – Reading the work of so many talented authors and thinking, wow, incredible, what command they have of the craft… and then realizing there is no way I can do that; it is simply a talent gap that exists.
Best – Realizing that I have something to offer that nobody else does… I can be me, with a unique point of view, and if I really stay true to who I am and how I think and speak and view the world, then talent doesn’t matter as much.
Book 1 in Scott’s fantastic YA sci fi Toucan Trilogy is currently FREE, so I’d definitely bag yourself a copy. It’s a great read!
.
.
.