List Day: 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Want to Be a Writer

Let's count this down, shall we?

5. Insomnia 
 I put this low on the list because I'm sure many writers escape it. Sadly, if you're like me and you can't sleep for all the ideas, conversations, anxieties and 'will that agent or editor like the book?' questions running through your head, this is a nuisance. My dears, start investing in some kind of sleep-maker. 

4. Your non-writer friends think you're insane

and can you blame them? Let's see: if someone you knew suddenly jerked their heads up during lunch, muttered frantically under their breath, and cried 'yes! I get it now!' at top volume, would you want to commit them? When they run off in the middle of a concert because 'they've just got the best idea', do you feel indulgent and tolerant, or do you want to clout them on the head? Oh, yes. Writers = crazy, in the eyes of the non-writer friends and family who have to put up with these foibles, eccentricities, and frequent periods of immense anti-socialness. 

3. It's a lifestyle, not just a job
Some people do the 9-to-5. Most of those people may love their jobs. Others may hate it. Some may see it as a way to pay bills until they can do what they really love. Either way, many, many, many of them get to come home at the end of the day, shake off their work, and unwind. Writers carry their work around everywhere. It's in our heads. We can't escape it. 

2. Rejection
If you've been reading this blog at least a couple days, you'll know I got a rejection the day before yesterday. Believe me, I'm not bitter. If I was, I wouldn't still be trying and trust me, I'm still trying. But rejection stings nevertheless. It's a pain in the behind to work very hard on a project, fall madly in love with it, nervously put it out there, and then be told it's not good enough. Ouch. And unlike the majority (but not all) of jobs/hobbies, writing comes with an awful lot of rejection. Frequently.  

1. Two words: Crow's. Feet.


It begs the question, doesn't it? Why do it? Well, I guess it boils down to this: if, in spite of all those things, you still want to write and, moreover, you still have to write, then, readers, you are a writer.