Do You Really Want to be a Writer?

I have good friends who are really good writers, but I'm not sure that they really want to be writers.

Oh, yes, they'd like to be published and they ask me lots of question about all sorts of things. But they only produce a few pages at a time because they are too busy with work, going to club meetings, having dinner out with friends, lunch with lady friends, watching movies, chatting on the phone, and I could go on and on.

Yes I do some of those things too--right now I'm not working, but when I did I still wrote on a regular basis, at least five days a week. I no longer belong to social or service clubs--gave them up years ago as I did my other hobbies because there wasn't enough time in the day to do everything. And I seldom use the phone to just chat--except with my sis and my kids.

I love movies. Hubby and I try to go a couple of times a month. We don't really have much of a social life except when we're attending mystery cons or on a trip for some sort for promotion. What's happened, is some of my best friends are now people I've met while on the road, writers and readers.

Ah yes, and then there's promotion. I've heard everything from I don't think I can put that much time into promoting. I don't say it out loud, but my thought is then you might as well forget about the writing. If you get published you will have to promote. Whether you put the time in by speaking or teaching at writers groups, service organizations, schools, libraries or bookstores or stick to online promotion, it all takes time. If you want people to know about your books and want to buy them, you have to get the word out.

Right now I'm on a blog tour for Bears With Us so when I first get up in the morning I spend time promoting my stop for the day on my listserves, Facebook and Twitter. In November, I'll be involved with another blog tour, this time with other mystery writers and that will take some time.

Oh and I'm also taking the first week in November off to go on a cruise. We're celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary on what once was supposed to be a mystery cruise. Only a remnant of us are left, but I suspect we'll spend some time sharing ideas and I definitely plan to hand my card out to anyone I see reading a Kindle--and anyone else who might be interested. I'll probably tuck a few books in my luggage too, just in case someone is in need of something to read.

Despite all that, I write nearly every day. The only day I don't is Sunday, though I still might do a bit of promoting. Hubby and I both teach Sunday School--he the oldest people at church, I have the 3-6th graders. After church we always go out to lunch.

My calendar for 2012 is already starting to fill up because I'll have another book sometime after the first of the year.

My point is if you really want to be a writer, you focus on your writing.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/