Today I have the honor to host Gregory Lovvorn an author of You Can Write! Believe it! and Write And Get Paid!
Enjoy!
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
First thing I would like to do is thank Jennifer for allowing me to write this guest blog. I truly appreciate every opportunity that I am given, to share my work.
To be honest I struggled at first as to what to write for this post. I didn’t want to write anything spammy. There are enough of those posts out there now and I don’t write to just sell books. I write with the hope of enriching the lives of those who read my work. That is why I chose to talk to you today about something that not many writers share, especially with a young audience. What I will call the dark side of being a writer.
I’m sure that some of you reading this aren’t just avid readers but that you also harbor dreams of, someday, being writers and authors yourselves. This article is for you.
I love being a writer. There is nothing, outside my family, that brings me as much lasting joy as the written word. That is why I wrote my first two books (“Write and GET PAID!” and ” You Can Write”) to share my love of writing and to show others that they can also be writers. Not every part of a writer’s life is roses though. Forewarned is forearmed so take these words to heart.
A writers Freedom
One of the great things you always hear about being a writer is the freedom to set your own schedule and it is wonderful, if you can discipline yourself to work. If you don’t, watch yourself, you will find yourself facing a closing deadline with more words than you can comfortable produce still unwritten.
Then there is no freedom. You are chained to your keyboard like a slave. Editors are very unforgiving of missed deadlines and nothing will end a budding career faster.
The freedom to write what you like, the way you like, is another thing people dream of and as a writer; you have this freedom if you all you want to do is write. If you want to make a living as a writer, as I do, you have to write what sells.
Most of my work is done as a Ghost Writer. That means I create and someone else takes the credit. It also means that I occasionally have to write a piece from a point of view or in a style that I do not completely care for. It is what I am paid to do and the earnings from this work is what gives me the freedom to write what I enjoy writing as well as other things like having a roof over my head and food on the table.
Emotional Roller Coaster
This is the big one and the hardest that I had to learn to deal with as a professional writer. There is nothing like the feeling you will get the first time you open a nice glossy magazine and
see your byline in print or walk through a bookstore and see your title there on the shelf. Don’t grab people saying I wrote this. You won’t like the reaction your very liable to get. Don’t ask how I know this; just don’t do it.
As wonderful as these feelings are there is a down side. You will also have to deal with bad reviews and getting copy back from editors that looks like Ted Bundy used it for a napkin. It goes with the job but it can be hard to get used to.
One day you get a fan letter, telling you how wonderful your work is and then later read a review saying your work is trash. That’s the rollercoaster.
Loneliness
That that I will cover here that you need to prepare for is loneliness. Writers are probable the loneliest of all artist. Painters, sculptors, photographers all have people and things around them to recreate. As a writer everything that we produce, comes from within us.
Our world exists within our heads and is only made real by our hands on a keyboard. It is hard to discuss with nonwriters what we do. People have told me I wish I could be a writer; set down, hammer out a few words and get paid. They have no idea of the reality of a writer’s life. They have never starred at a blank screen for an hour when nothing would come out. Trust me that is, a lonely feeling.
My purpose in writing this was not to scare anyone out of a career as a writer. I wish everyone could share, with me, the joy I feel as a writer. There is no other profession that I would ever want to practice, again. That being said, a writer’s life is not all sunshine and cupcakes. It is a profession that has its pitfalls as well as its rewards. The rewards far outweigh the cost but be prepared.
Bio
Gregory Lovvorn is the father of six and Grandfather of two. He spent his early life as a jack of all trades before settling into a career doing environmental work around the world. He came to writing late in life when an accident sidelined him from his past work.
Proudly American by birth but considering himself a citizen of the world Gregg has lived and worked on five continents and presently lives in the Philippines with his wife Dang, their dog Kali Wali (Arabic for it doesn’t matter) and an ever flowing group of family and friends.
Outside of writing Gregg’s interests include organic micro-farming, Badminton, food and environmental issues, books, movies and LEARNING.
Gregg has authored two books and hundreds of articles under his own name and as a ghost writer. His life motto is “it is better to live than to survive”.
To purchase Gregory Lovvorn books please visit:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWTXG8Y for “Write and GET PAID!”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENUKDDW for “You can Write”
Gregg’s blog is located at: http://eatingmodern.blogspot.com and more of his writings can be found on Yahoo! At http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1721243/gregory_lovvorn.html
Questions and comments on any of his work can be addressed to him directly at Glovvornblog@gmail.com
AUTHOR JENNIFER LOISKE 