Reader Question: Being an author

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being an author?

My favorite thing about being an author is getting deep into a story and its characters until they almost seem real. It’s just like reading can transport you into other places and people, except the experience is much more intense when the story’s coming out of you. I’m also very fond of the times when the right plot piece clicks into place and makes everything work, or I figure out something vital about one of my characters that casts the story in an exciting new light, or just stumbling on a wonderful new idea that I can’t wait to get down. That mysterious creative process.

My least favorite thing is the doubt and anxiety that I think all writers struggle with. The thing about being in a creative profession is that there is no one right way of doing things–there’s no manual that will teach you the right way to write a great story–and so it’s tricky to tell if you’re on the right path, if what you’ve written is any good, or if it’s doing what you want it to be doing. I spend a lot of time working away, trusting my instincts and experience as well as I can, without any idea of how what I’m putting on the page will come off to anyone other than me. It can be pretty scary. The only reason I get through it is that I love the parts I mentioned above much more than I fear getting things wrong. 🙂


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