Writers and Writing

Happy Saturday!

One of the greatest joys in my adult life is being a part of a group of writers. The Ditzy Chix began in August 2001, and it's amazing how much the eleven of us have grown as friends since then. It could be because we're women, and it could be because we all understand that it's okay to hear voices in our heads...aka characters' dialogue. More than likely, it's a little of both, in addition to the fact that we all support each other in our lives and our writing.

Writing can be a lonely profession. Writing can be a profession that brings little money. But those who write do so because they can't NOT write. Sounds crazy? Okay, it is, and I'd bet each and every writer would agree. We're all a little crazy, but who isn't? Keep in mind that only a select few--Stephen King, John Grisham, James Patterson, J.K. Rowling, to name a few--are making the big bucks. The rest of us are quietly waiting for our next sale or next royalty check to help pay the bills or maybe have the extra to redo our bathroom. And we do it alone. Just one on one with a computer and those voices in our heads.

But we're just like the guy or girl next door. Many of us have regular jobs, families to take care of, mortgages or rents to pay, soccer games to go to, and the need to buy gasoline that keeps going up and up in price. We laugh and cry like everyone else...sometimes a little more, because we laugh and cry at the characters we write about. So we may be crazy, but we're pretty normal, too. You probably couldn't pick us out of the usual crowd at the grocery store.

So if you've ever had an itch to write, but a little voice in your head keeps telling you that you must be crazy, there's no time in your life to write a grocery list, just remember that lots of others out there are doing it. What can you lose? A little time watching reality TV? Go ahead, give it a try. Be a little "crazy", just for fun.

Until later...