Skip to main content

The Other Half

Happy Friday Everybody,

Not everyone is married, but a lot of us do have significant others (mine happens to be my husband).

Sometimes these people in our lives (spouses, children, other people otherwise connected to us) don't always understand this world we call being an author.

Occasionally, people don't understand the time, energy, and everything else that goes into writing. Somehow, in the age of technology we have not bypassed writer's block, or editing.

At the same time, technology that would take out writer's block or editing might even take away some of the creative process that also helps hone our ability to establish the worlds in our stories in the first place.

How do we explain that it's our other vocation and sometimes unpredictable or go beyond usual work hours? It's like breathing air. We do it sometimes without thinking.

For instance...you might wander around the mall with the thought, "Okay, now I need to get socks and oh shoot, my jeans are a mess." But then all of a sudden you might also think "What if my heroine sprained her ankle while shopping because she's a complete klutz and didn't watch where she's going?"

Or, perhaps, "What if the mannequin's really a vampire that comes to life every Second Tuesday of every third month of the year?" (The vampire would come out about 4 times in a year).

Seriously, nobody ever knows when an idea will hit (whether outrageous or not) so we keep going. We keep going back to that manuscript that's still in the editing process working out how to make it the absolute best we can. We keep visiting ideas that bounce around in our heads or even things we wrote down to see what might work.

The thing is, we're always on the job one way or another. Whether it's actively writing, editing or if it's reading, attending a book club or a writers' group (or conference). We're always considering what's a great idea, what will help us, what will work and what doesn't.

While other people get to stop thinking about work when their shift is over, some of us are waking up in the middle of the night thinking: "AHA!"


Have A Fabulous Friday!

Comments

I laughed out loud as I read this! So true! Have a great weekend, and try not to trip over any vampire mannequins at the mall. :-)
Bethany said…
Shannon,

I'm glad you laughed (that was my goal to put a smile on people's faces) and I'll try not to trip on any Manne-Vamps (Vampire mannequins). I can't promise anything, though...they're sneaky creatures. :-)

Popular posts from this blog

Get Thee A Nom De Plume!

Good Evening One & All, Shakespeare wrote in Romeo & Juliet, "What's in a name?...A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Disney talked about names in Aladdin in the lyrics, "Better get a nom de plume ." (the song, "One Jump"). So, for a writer, what does a nom de plume (or, pen name) say about the author? It could be a different spelling of the author's name, it could be a name that has a significance. They could keep their first name, but change the last, or change both. A pen name is also the name a writer will write under for his or her books. The name that his or her readers will recognize them. The name on the autographs and the one where people will say, "Oh yes, that's so and so, they wrote..." Some authors write under their own names. Others, for a variety of reasons, choose a pen name. What about you? Are you considering a pen name? What have you looked at when thinking of your nom de plume ? For myself, I&

Gregori Celebrates My Birthday

Happy Tuesday All, ****CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED**** In honor of my birthday (that was on Oct. 15th) I am doing TWO give aways! The FIRST one is TODAY!  Today's give away is a copy of Kerrelyn Sparks' Sexiest Vampire Alive . Kerrelyn, being the awesome person that she is, has agreed to give a signed copy of the novel to ONE lucky commenter on my blog. Here's how it's going to work and please read all instructions CAREFULLY. ONE entry PER person : If you choose to email in your entry: Email to this email ONLY .  Your email should state who your favorite vampire is. And no, it does NOT have to be one of Kerrelyn Sparks' characters, but that would be really cool if you DID mention one of hers. If you choose to enter by commenting on my blog: Leave your FIRST name, email address, and what vampire is your favorite. It can be ANY vampire--but like I said, it would be really cool if you mention a Kerrelyn Sparks' vampire. You don't know Kerrelyn Spa

Fangs and Mistletoe

Happy Wednesday All, Congratulations to Sarah K. who won the Tess St. John giveaway. Please confirm receipt of the email I sent you to claim your prize! ****KERRELYN SPARKS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED . Thank you to all who particpated. A special thank you to Kerrelyn Sparks for providing the prize.**** Merrily the December Days Blog Giveaway keeps going! ***THIS GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED. It was closed on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 10:30 p.m. Central Time per the giveaway details. I am no longer accepting entries to this giveaway*** If you haven't had the fun of reading a Kerrelyn Sparks paranormal romance, then you're in for a treat. Kerrelyn is offering to one lucky winner a signed copy of her fun and fangtastic novel, All I Want For Christmas Is A Vampire: Toni's friend is in the hospital going on about vampires. Toni will prove her right. But can she resist Ian's charm, in spite of his fangs? As always, the book is full of Kerrelyn's wit, ro