A friend recently asked me what an author does with their time. Are they the sort of person who adheres to a rigid guideline, rising every morning at the same time, writing for a set amount of hours or a word-count goal, and spending the rest of the day reading books and/or watching TV. First, I told him I'm not an author. At least not in the strictest sense of the word. That's someone who can make a living from their work. I'm not there yet (hopefully one day) so what I am, instead, is a 'writer'. What's the difference, you may be asking. I've just told you. There's not a huge pile in terms of output. I write just as much as any professional author does. The only difference is that I have other endeavours which take away from my writing time.
For instance, I live on a farm. The day there's no work for me will be the day the sun doesn't rise. I try to squeeze in writing whenever and wherever I can. Sometimes that means getting up at seven in the morning and writing for an hour before work starts. Other times, I write during lunch. The best and most productive time I've found,though, is the evening. Unless otherwise preoccupied with a football match or TV series, this is the time I achieve my 1,000 word quota for each day. Oftentimes it's more. I usually clock at least 1,500 before hitting the hay.
How do I motivate myself? What happens when writer's block strikes? First, there's no greater motivation than finishing a novel, giving it to a reader, and seeing the look on their face when they've finished it. It's a great feeling to have someone say: "Dude! I couldn't put it down!" If that doesn't motivate you, what the hell will? As for writer's block, that one's simpler. I don't have it because I don't believe in it. I understand that it's a prevalent condition among aspiring writers, but what I feel it boils down to is a lack of self-discipline. Journalists, professional authors, and other people who need to write to make a living don't suffer from writer's block. They can't afford to.
We're not that different from readers, to be honest. To paraphrase a line from a close friend, Dean Sault, readers suspend reality when they start reading; writers suspend it when they start writing; otherwise, we're much the same. We like to read; A LOT. Often, we write the kind of novel which we'd love to read. Our lives don't revolve around writing, but a lot of our time is spent either thinking about that next scene, wondering about a previous one, or planning the sequel in our head. By default, writers tend to be excessively imaginative. When writing, we spend a lot of time in a world which exists to no one but us. It's no surprise, then, that we tend to drift into this world during the day. Daydreaming used to be a sign that something wasn't quite right with a child. Nonsense. S/he may be daydreaming because of an over-active imagination, which is not a bad thing, especially when that child wants to express themselves in a creative way.
Overall, writing is the closest feeling to being a god. You have complete control of a world, the characters within it, and everything which happens to them. Sometimes, though, the writer stumbles into the pitfall of making his main character nigh-on perfect, perhaps as a representation of what they would like themselves to be. The reality is, though, that everyone has flaws. It's what makes us human, likeable, and relatable. Take that away, and you have a Mary Sue (Google it).
So, no, I don't spend my days writing, watching TV, and lounging around. That being said, it wouldn't be a terrible way of making a living, would it? *Smile*
