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Monday, August 27, 2018

Writer's Life Top Ten

by Joanne Rock

Writer conferences are good perks! With Catherine Mann
Being a writer isn’t all fun and games. The down side involves lots of isolation, not much affirmation, rejection no matter where you are in your career, and constant preoccupation that makes it tough to focus on anything but the work in progress. Being an optimist, however, I choose to focus on the positives. So here’s my personal top ten list for what I love most about being a writer.

1)     Work in pajamas. Every day. That’s as much fun as it sounds. My pajama game is strong, and I have cute pairs for all occasions.
2)     No alarm clock. Now that my youngest has finished high school, I have no reason to wake with the roosters and can sleep until I’m no longer tired. There’s no better recipe for mental clarity than getting adequate rest.
3)     Flexible schedule. Sometimes my family needs me—for days on end. I can put down a book and pick  it up later, which is a wonderful perk. As long as a book is done by the deadline, it doesn’t matter if I work hardest in the early days, the middle days, or if I write non-stop for the last week before a deadline.
4)     It’s a fun topic for cocktail conversation. If I tell someone I’m a writer at a party, it’s not a way for me to talk about myself. It’s the ultimate ice breaker for other people to chat about themselves. Because the line “I’m a writer” is always answered—sooner or later—with “Have I got a story for you.”
5)     Research trip! Exploring new places is one of the best ways to heighten creativity and inspire new stories. It’s not quite the same as a vacation, but it’s darn close.
6)     I write what I love. I choose the storylines and the characters, so there’s no one to blame but myself if I’m not having fun with a story. I try to mix up tropes and character types to keep my storytelling fresh and my Muse engaged.
7)     Sexy times. Does that ever get old?
8)     Romance. My genre is the best one because the hard work my characters put into their relationships always pays off. I realize that’s not always true to life, and that good, deserving people have their hearts broken. But those aren’t my stories. I can focus on the relationships where effort and sacrifice are rewarded.
9)     Readers. Love of romance brings a wonderful group of like-minded book-lovers into my life every day. I have made lifelong friends because of what I do.
10)  The emotional reward of creating something meant to be enjoyed. Hearing from a reader “I loved your book” or “Your book gave me a welcome escape when I was going through a hard time” is incredibly fulfilling.

So I’m on deadline this week, and even though this is when writing is toughest, I choose to focus on the positive. I feel fortunate to do what I love every day. What about you? Do you have a favorite aspect of work that you do? Share with me for a chance to win a copy of any book from my 2018 backlist!

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh maybe I need to write a book.
Lol

Unknown said...

Oh maybe I need to write a book.
Lol

girlfromwva said...

i am disabled. it has helped me with having the time to help my 2 youngest sons who each have medical issues. when i was working, i liked being able to help others.

A.C. said...

Love the list!! Congrats on your new release!!

dstoutholcomb said...

my life is slowly changing--only have one left at home for the next five years. I love the flexibility. giving me more opportunity to follow my own dreams.

no need to count me.

d

Karen McNicol said...

I am not working at the moment but my favorite job was working the Drive-thru at McDonalds. I did it part time for about 8 years, for the last 5 of those years I worked 6am-2pm. Loved it, got home and had a nap it was great. I loved the people I worked with, loved most of the customers, loved being busy in the mornings and having everything run smoothly. I miss being around people, and I don't know that I could work with mainly younger people again (only a few of the people I worked with were around my age,(I was around 40 when I started), but it was fun. The best thing was working early and having the people in the cars complain about how early they were heading into work, lol then they would look at me and laugh and say oops sorry! Thank you for being a writer, it a lot of work to put in for people to enjoy and lose themselves in (and you work for months for what it takes us a few hours to enjoy).

Joanne Rock said...

Karen, good for you for finding the joys in your work! I like what you said about being busy (I like that too), and also about the rewards of having things running smoothly. It's nice to feel like things are rocking along well directly because of your efforts. As for working with young people... that helps keep you young :-). I know I like chatting with new writers at conferences because the energy and enthusiasm helps me remember why I love what I do!

Joanne Rock said...

Terri, I started out gung-ho, and very quickly realized it was so much harder than I imagined! I'd red a thousand books by then, I'm sure, and yet seeing it from the other side made it all feel foreign to me. It was rewarding taking apart the pieces and seeing a story finally come together though. Not well, necessarily!! It took time to get better at it. But even just getting to The End on the first story felt like a huge victory. Thank you for stopping by!

Linda May said...

I'm retired so I always have time for reading & you are one of my favorite authors. Thanks for this very generous chance.

Deanne Patterson said...

My job is full time,yes,I am a stay at home mom to 12. One is out of the house and one is in and out,the other 10 live at home full time. 7 are in School. Can't turn off being a mom, a 9-5 job it is not. With that being said I love interacting with my kids and seeing them mature before my eyes and become people I would enjoy spending time with even if they weren't my children
In my spare time I read and review books on my blog. Love to read!

kim hansen said...

New author for me.

Cecilia R Rodriguez said...

What I like about my job, is that I am serving hot meals to seniors.

Eileen AW said...

I'm retired after teaching high school for 37 years so now I can read all I want.

Mary Preston said...

I'm retired too. My life is my own and I LOVE IT.

Laney4 said...

Work from home. Enjoy being on the computer in my nighty when I have to work late at night.

Unknown said...

im a stay at home mom to two girls my oldest is in second grade my youngest is almost four.

Dharmendra said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dharmendra said...

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Yvonne said...

Love the list. Loved meeting you as well

Joanne Rock said...

Thank you so much for visiting with me this week! We've got a winner name... cheers to Cecilia Rodriguez! Cecilia, all you need to do is message me privately at jrock008@gmail.com with a mailing address and let me know the book of your choice from my 2018 backlist! I look forward to hearing from you.