Writing -- Labor OR Love?

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Before I decided I wanted to publish my books, I never gave any thought to all the work that went into a book.  I just read them and enjoyed them.

Now I'm on the other side of the equation. 

I'm the author.  My brand is my name, my reputation, and as a slight perfectionist it can drive one a tad crazy.  Maybe you can relate to this?   Especially when it comes to the process of editing.  How many times do you read through the manuscript before passing it along to a professional editor?  How many more times do you go through it afterward?  

If you're not published yet and are still at the stage where you're trying to complete that first novel, don't deceive yourself.  Editing, writing, and publishing is a lot of work! (Marketing is another post.)

So does that mean you give up before you start?  Do you call it quits after you've started?  NO!  And you know why?  Because the perfect relationship for an author is the balance between labor and love.  

If you didn't LOVE writing, if you didn't LOVE people reading your work, you would give up.  

So just remember the next time you sacrifice time with friends or family for the sake of a manuscript, you chose to, you work hard because you LOVE it!  Therefore, it's really a labor OF love.  Keep it up!


Comments

  1. Rachelle AyalaFebruary 13, 2013 at 7:04 PM

    Good point. You have to also love your story because you will have read it countless times while writing, revising, editing and proofreading.

    ReplyDelete

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