Saturday, March 8, 2008

Cramps, not Cash

This feels a bit strange. I've never so much as sent a single post to a blog before, and now I'm starting one of my own. So what's the big occasion that gives rise to this new endeavor?

I have come one step closer to realizing a dream of mine - to write a book and have it published. No small order, this writing gig. I've recently signed a publishing agreement with a small publisher on the west coast. This follows 18 months of writing, six months of editing, polishing, and re-writing, and four months of submitting query letters to agents and publishers.

Writing is one of the real joys of my life, surpassed only by the satisfaction of being a daddy, the privilege of being a husband, and the honor of serving God. It is hard to believe there are people who are able to make a living by writing alone. I have a degree in Business, so I'm supposed to be really good with numbers. But I don't need a calculator to tell me this writing gig is good for making cramps, not cash.

I write a few hours a day, usually starting at 8:00 p.m. or so, after the kids have finished their evening routines and are winding down for the night. This has been my routine for the past two years. It will be another year before my first novel is published. By that time I will have invested one-thousand hours working with my editor and publisher, reviewing galleys, figuring out a marketing and promotion strategy for the book rollout, and finishing the manuscript for my second novel. Three years without one penny to show for it. No cash, just cramps.

So why do it? Why pour yourself into a mission, a goal that has a lower probability for success than winning the lottery? Or getting struck by lightning?

For those of you that write, you already know the answer. You write because you must. You write because you have something to say. It is not an option for you. You will find rest only when you have accepted the task and seen the work through to it's completion. It's about the cramps, the journey.

For those of you who don't, no worries! I also have a great passion for music (playing, not just listening), small business (my wife and I own a small publishing business), cooking (finally, a practical avocation!), and have a career in business I thoroughly enjoy (cash, a few cramps). There are plenty of other topics for us to explore besides writing.

Welcome to my blog, dedicated to those who "get" Writer's Cramp.



JWO

1 comment:

luby said...

Hey Dad! It's me, Luby! Just wanting to drop you a few lines in regard to your comments. I agree that us writers write because we need to, and that the cramps just prove we're communicating with the outside world. Love ya!

p.s.: Stevie Ray Vaughn ROCKS!!!