AUTHOR'S CORNER;
WRITING, THE BEAUTIFUL SIDE!
We always moan about the solitary and frankly boring side to being a writer; all those days, weeks, months or even years, stuck in a poky room, with nobody to talk to, pounding away at your keyboard, wondering if you are actually writing something publishable or a whole load of rubbish! There is no gratitude to writing; it is not a craft which easily rewards you and it often goes unnoticed and is accompanied by an awful lot of rejection. It instils a desperate feeling of dejection in a person and is riddled with self loathing, self doubt and very low self esteem!
One can't help but feel a bit foolish when one is attempting to become an international author. After all, until you have actually made it as an international, well acclaimed author, nobody actually knows a thing about....in fact, they don't even really know about you! Think of all the metaphorical bleeding one does from their fingertips and their heart, just to churn out a novel, and even then, there is more bleeding to be done, in the form of editing and receiving many rejection letters! Who in their right mind would choose this as a profession? You might as well visit the zoo and jump into the lion's cage; it will be less painful in the long run!
But wait, let's not paint the picture completely black; black pictures have no meaning and often the artistic point is completely missed! Yes, yes, all of the above is true; writing is a bitter sweet slow death that must only be attempted by the very brave or the suicidal! But there is a good side to writing, a beautiful, magical and amazing side which only true writers fully appreciate and understand; that's why they keep doing it!
Unlike the other so called artistic professions, you can age to your heart's content! Writers do not need to look fabulous, or young, or pretty or even presentable! In fact a writer's persona is like a good wine, the older it looks the better people expect it to be!
This is one of the few jobs which you can actually use age as a bonus to your C.V. a sort of qualification and merit to your position!
It is the only job in the world which allows you about a thousand coffee breaks a day! try that in your office job or your retail job and see how long you'll last!
How many jobs do you know which allow you to talk to yourself, read to yourself and basically crack inappropriate jokes whenever you feel like it, not to mention swearing?
You can combine art with knowledge and experience and be the mad scientist of your own little insane world without being in danger of being committed to an institute!
If needs be, you can hang out in the seediest places without your partner batting an eyelid, all in the name of literary research!
This job gives you licence to eat whenever and however you like! In fact it is a requirement of the job!
The nature of this profession comes with a lot of hope and optimism; just because you ain't made it yet doesn't mean you won't!
The best thing about this job, is that your family can't put a deadline on how long you take to actually finish your work! Once you are sat at that desk (even if you are brain dead) you are officially working!
The added bonus, is that you know that no matter how long it takes you to make it as a writer, no matter how slow it is to get that best seller out there, your friends, family and neighbours are helpless but to watch you try and make it, feel jealous in the process and admire your conviction from a distance!
