Life As A Writer

Writers are a strange lot aren't we? We don't see ourselves as strange, but the outside world sees us as being out there. We make mental notes when a notebook and pen aren't handy, some of us carry a notebook and pen with us. Some writers carry a voice recorder, and yet other writers use their cell phones to call their voicemail and leave messages for themselves.

The community of writers, serious writers, is vast! Some writers are already making a nice steady income and worry for nothing while other writers are still trying to get there. One thing for sure that us writers all have in common is the desire to never ever work for anyone else ever again! There are those of us who aren't necessarily looking to get rich and others who are looking to get so rich that they can think about generations down the road instead of worrying about how to survive the rest of the year.

Life as a writer is actually work! Some writers are people with responsibilities such as wives, husbands, children, and the whole long list goes on. Some writers have only themselves they need to worry about, so they live a simple life without too many distractions. What we writers have in common within all of this is that we all have to work on a set schedule of some sort. We spend so much time on daily personal items, then we sit at our keyboards and work on whatever project is on the schedule for the day.

How long do we work for? For as long as our eyes can deal with staring at a screen, for as long as our backs, shoulders, necks, and heads can deal with our office chairs combined with the repetitive motions of typing. When we get thirsty we get up and get a drink. When we get hungry we stop to eat. We take bathroom breaks, those who smoke or do the whole caffeine routine will get up to do those things.

We become writers because we have something to communicate to the world around us. We have something to add to the world in the literary arts, in the news journalism circles, in the blogosphere, in whatever genre there is. One thing we as writers have in common with each other here is that we are solitary. We require total concentration, quiet, peace, and sometimes we require total privacy or even personal reflection time.

Our impulse to write, to communicate, to share our creativity with the world around us is both impulsive and compulsive. Many people mistakenly think we are addicted to our art, to our computers, etc. What we do is work and it requires our devotion to tasks just as your job requires you to devote yourself to the tasks you receive a corporate paycheck for.

Statistics accurately prove that many of us writers are people who are deeply into humanity & deeply into ourselves. Many of us are trying to find a life for ourselves once we have found our identity. Writing really is a great tool for personal growth. We come from every background, every walk of life, every economic situation, every faith, every race, every ethnicity, and every country on the planet (some of us may possibly come from other planets, but that's another discussion.) As you can see here, us writers do have a sense of humor and some of us are better than others with it.

A writer's need to express their hearts and minds comes from various places within themselves. This writer comes places in life where there has been almost every situation you can think of. This means I have known the same happiness and joys you have known, but I have also seen ugliness and trauma the likes of which would make your worst nightmares look like a walk on a sunny day. Writers are all emotional people and this writer is no exception.

We even go through times when we swear we feel nothing at all. We get moody, we get anxious, we get depressed, we fall into ruts where our muse and inspiration leaves us high & dry. We writers rely on our friends & family to provide moral support, to be our allies, to be everything to us that they can be. Just like anyone else in the world, we have a need to get out and have a life. We need to interact with the public that makes up the outside world. This is where we find our inspiration most of the time.

Life as a writer is different from life as a corporate worker. Unfortunately, most people don't see what we do as a "real job", as if a corporate career is anymore real than anything else. See, we actually do have bosses...our bosses are those who read our material. Our bosses are the private clients that some of us do work for. Our bosses are the agents and publishers we work with, the people who help promote us visibly in the world.

There is no such thing as a writer who starts their career and makes enough to live on right away, just as there is no such thing as a corporate worker who makes enough money to live on immediately. It simply isn't an overnight deal! We call our culture "writerish". We do "writerish" things. Hopefully the day will come when "writerish" gets its recognition as a real word versus just a social term.

This writer has been finding new inspiration for the craft and for everyday life with thanks from a certain colleague who turned me onto a place called Lifechurch.tv. I seriously hope you're happy! I've become an on-line follower of this church whose Pastor is a dynamite speaker! This church and their Pastor aren't the stereotypical "religiously obsessed" people. Craig Groeschel heads Lifechurch with a contemporary style emphasizing practicality.

LifeChurch - Who We Are 

Watching Craig speak this evening has given me some ideas that are "weird" . Watching this man speak was the inspiration for tonight's entry. Before I close, please remember that this blog is a work in progress. There will be additions to it in the weeks to come. A links section will be added with who knows what other stuff. Thanks for reading Carrington Corner!