Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

Monday, January 17, 2011

Do you REALLY want to be a writer?

If you want to be famous then run for office and be a politician

If you want to be rich then become a plastic surgeon.

If you want to have people know your name then be a teacher.

If you want to make a difference in someone's life then have children.

If you want to work alone, feel like a freak, be misunderstood, wonder what the point is, always come up short of time and money, while writing stories that bubble up from within about characters you have never met but are strangely in love with, then be a writer.

67 comments:

  1. Me too, Clarissa! And at last I have acknowledged and accepted all the terms of agreement so I'm really happy about it most days.

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  2. Hahahahaha! This is SO true! Thanks for the reminder :D

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  3. Writer! Love being misunderstood!

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  4. LOL! Sad, but true. *grins ruefully*

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  5. LOL, I guess I have no choice but to write. Those freaky people in my head keep asking questions :)
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  6. Yes, writing is something you just can't help so the terms of agreement is one those little boxes you will check blindly because you know you're going to do it anyway - no matter what the rules.

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  7. HA! Perfect! And exactly how I feel:/

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  8. Well when you put it that way a writer doesn't sound so bad.

    I figure at least I'm in good company :) and I'm changing lives, I just realized it's my own :)

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  9. Oh, you always crack me up!! And so true about students always remembering the name of a teacher. I love when they say "hi" to me at the grocery store or wherever they see me away from school :)

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  10. I just want to be a writer, so maybe people wont look at me as funny when I say that I'm talking to my "characters."

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  11. That pretty much sums it up--and yeah, I want to be a writer!

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  12. Short, succinct, perfect!

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  13. Way to confront those myths about authors.

    I DEFINITELY don't want to be a politician. Rich and meaningful sound pretty good though.

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  14. Yep. That's all true. I hope that combining the writing thing with having kids and teaching on occasion makes me a little less freaky. Except . . . my kids don't understand me either.

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  15. ((sigh)) Blue Monday. This post has made me feel melancholy. Perfect :O)

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  16. After reading your last paragraph, I know I'm living the life!

    Thanks for the wakeup call. It's not all glamour, is it?

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  17. So true. But it's not so bad. We get to invent worlds, create characters and live many different lives. Being a writer may be a lonely, difficult task, but it sure is fun!

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  18. Excellent point Karen. And so, so true. =)

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  19. You're seriously making me rethink things..

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  20. Since all the first choices made my lip curl and 'yuk' come out of my mouth, and since I laughed out loud about being a writer, then I guess I chose the right job. Or it chose me. Whatever. I'm happy to be a writer. Now I'm off to talk to my characters some more.

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  21. I think those of us caled to be writers feel an insatiable desire to share beauty and truth with the world. That makes all the awfulness more than worth it.
    Thanks for appreciating all of us!

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  22. I'm not sure I ever wanted it; but I've ended up being a writer. I have to admit, a little more money wouldn't be a bad thing. And maybe, the teeniest touch of fame.

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  23. There's an award for you at our blog!

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  24. Haha, good point! And to answer it, yes I do. I really really do.

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  25. Good point, Karen. It's a mystery why we do it really.

    Jai

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  26. Awwww being a writer is such fun!!! LOL!!!! I want to be one when I grow up! Take care
    x

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  27. I would not have know that's why I became a teacher! Or that's why I had children..

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  28. What? And I thought I was going to get big royalty payments and movie rights... *snort*

    Oh, this is too funny! So well said. Especially the bit about loving UR characters. Funny how we can come to love so deeply these imaginary people! But we do!

    Great post, Karen!

    Julie Johnson
    busywriting.net

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  29. That about sums it up. Thanks for the giggle!

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  30. Too funny...and true. I want to be a rich writer, so I guess I need to do plastic surgery on the side! )

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  31. I'm in the middle of my blog book tour Karen and haven't had much time to visit all my favorites. I'm sorry. I fit that writer profile to a T.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

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  32. Love this! Lonely freakdom suits me. Thanks for a laugh today.

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  33. At least I won't be alone in my freakyness. :)

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  34. Wow...feels like looking in the mirror! Thanks!

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  35. In the end, I think all writers write because it's what they do. They can't help themselves. Write from joy.

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  36. Well in that case... I think I'll go be a.. a.. nope the voices in my head won't let me be anything else. I'll have to be a writer.

    PS. Love the cover of Uncut Diamonds :)

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  37. Thanks for a good chuckle this morning. Tis so true, yet we forget...

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  38. *snort* Yeah, put me down for that last one.

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  39. so many down-sides to being a writer. i can think of at least one up-side-- you can have an impact on people's lives through your stories, or at least encourage them. sometimes, that's the only thing that keeps me writing - that and the fact that if i stopped, i feel like part of me would die.

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  40. LOL, I so loved and needed this. My favorite part is the "writing stories about characters you have never met but are strangely in love with"

    Funny thing, I went to school to be a teacher (and I teach on a small scale), I had the kids, won't touch politics with a 20 foot pole, so all that's left is writing. :)

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  41. I know I have said this before, but this is why I follow writer blogs. The posts are beautiful, clever, funny, touching, imaginative, heartbreaking.....but never dull.

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  42. I do like that swoopy feeling I get in my chest when I find just the right phrase or find a new person lurking in my pages. I do. And I've had children and I'm not sure I changed anybody's life by it. Even theirs. Yes, it isn't an easy ride to fame and fortune but dang it is a fun ride by times.

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  43. We are driven! Well said, Sistah



    Aloha from Waikiki

    Comfort Spiral

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  44. LOL! Well, I hope to change all of this very soon. But I see the humor in it.

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  45. Awesome Karen. So very, very true. I wish the rich and famous one was a more common result, though. Don't you? ;)

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  46. All so true.

    What sad people we must be ;-)

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  47. Late the party as always, but had to comment! So very well said :-)

    And yeah, we writers are a sad, sick bunch. *G*

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  48. And don't forget the chocolate!! ;-)

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  49. Guess I really struck a familiar nerve with this post. Which explains why I personally am in love with blogging. It's where I go to find like-minded people/writers dealing with the same joys and frustrations that I have about the craft of writing.

    The best writer groups ever are online imho.

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  50. So true, times three.
    My favorite part of being a writer? When all my non-writing friends tell me how rich I'm going to be when I sell my book.
    Ummm......yeah. Not exactly how it works for most of us.
    But still. Here I am.

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  51. Ha ha, excellent. I'm going for two of those myself!

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  52. Hi Karen. This is my first time to read your wonderful blog & I love this post so much! It's great to be reassured about why I feel down in the dumps so much of the time but yet do not want to change a thing. Oh and I'm just about to become a follower....so the 600 is one step nearer!
    Mari

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