Rewards of writing:
1) Enhanced creativity
2) Fame and fortune (not!) but getting printed across several genres (poetry, memoir, novels, short stories, blogs (yes!))
3) Joining the writing community through Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, my writing group, blogging, and Facebook, Boston Book Fair. Lots more
4) Volunteering and mentoring
5) Keeping brain working past middle-age. Never discount this.
6) Discovering great new authors to read
7) Persisting no matter what
8) Learning a bit of public speaking. Thank you, Toastmasters!
9) Bringing husband into the writing community (great memoir)
10) Discovering the joy of writing conferences and the pleasure of weekends of everything writing and discovering new cities, too,
11) The joy of research
And so much more!
Costs of writing:
1) Rejection (500+ queries and still no agent)
2). Got agent; wrong one
3) Dues, meetings, conferences not cheap. Will never earn back what I have spent, but that's okay
4) Only small successes; no breakout books; no bestsellers
5) Ego often deflated. Goes with the territory.
You see that the rewards far outweigh the costs. We've had some great vacations that were working vacations in that we visited a site where a book in process was set. This always brings forth many ideas and introduces us to a place we would not have visited.
Below are the blogs of some great writers who always have something unique to say. Please take a gander (as my dad used to say).
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blo
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspo
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1qD
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright
Posts
You forgot to mention that it costs $$$ to promote and market the book - cold hard cash! But your list of rewards is spot on. All that and so much more.
ReplyDeleteGood post, Judy.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked - Keeping brain working past middle-age. Never discount this.
This is so true and one I forgot about.
I enjoyed your list format. Positives fare better than negatives!
ReplyDeleteI particularly agree with your 5th point: writing is indeed a mental pencil-sharpener. Should have thought of that myself!
ReplyDeleteKeeping the mind active is so important and writing really does do that, regardless of whether your aim is publication or not.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Dr. Bob - I hope it keeps my mind sharp forever. For sure I keep learning because there is always research to be done. And they say challenging the brain keeps it young.
ReplyDelete