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Being an author is certainly not a glamorous job. Correction, for most of us, it's not. Writers lives consist of people watching, staring at a notebook/computer screen for hours on end, cramped fingers from writing/typing, and of course, reading!
Most people out there probably think of writers as having this amazing life. In our minds, we sure do. How else would we come up with such fantastical stories. But, the real world is not always so amazing. Bad reviews, writer's block, low sales, etc... There are so many ways a writer can become discouraged.
That's when you need that little nudge. Something to remind you of why you got into writing in the first place: the love of the story.
The nudge can come from anywhere. It just needs to make you want to sit down and write.
I got a much needed one recently. I'd been very down on myself. My sales have been very bad. My freelance self-publishing services were not being utilized, and I'd spotted a negative review (I know I shouldn't have looked).
I had my usual tissy fit and started cruising the want ads for a new job, fed up with writing altogether! That's when I spotted an email from a friend. She saw a blog post and sent it to me.
Reading it made me realize, I write for me. I hope that others will love my work, but I am the one who gets the most enjoyment from the story. It is my stress relief (when I kill off a character), it is my chance to be all powerful (I can create worlds!), it is my therapy (fighting, overcoming obsticales, etc). Yes, I want my stories to sell. I want people clamoring to read more, but that is not why I write. I write because I love it. The rest is just a bonus.
So, here I am typing away again, feeling the enjoyment of just writing, no pressure!