Monday 1 January 2024

Why I Love My Job - The Creative Process

WHY I LOVE MY JOB

Happy New Year!! I hope this year is good to you and it brings you all you wish for and more. I wanted to start the year on a positive note since it feels like that would be a good idea. So I thought I would talk about why I love being an indie author, and how much joy it brings me. While there are always going to be some pitfalls when it comes to writing and working in general, the majority of the time it's a case of rolling up to my desk and being very happy that I get to be an author.

I didn't ever grow up with the childhood wish to be a writer or an author. I knew what I wanted to be, and that was a doctor. It, obviously, didn't work out. My health was terrible and my grades and attendance at college were the same, and I ended up dropping out before the first term was complete. I went into the working world then, but also, did I mention my health was terrible? That didn't last either, and then I kinda fell into writing, and thought, back then, that maybe it could be the thing I did for both myself, and also to sell books and make money.

Saying that, I have always told stories. I could tell you about the books I wrote with friends at secondary school. Or I could tell you about the stories I would scribble down for relatives, but there were always stories inside me. I just didn't really think it was something I could do for a living. In some ways it was falling sick, well sicker because I've always had my lung condition, that allowed me to see that being creative was something I could do.

It wasn't easy, but I don't really think anyone goes into any creative pursuit thinking that it'll be easy, not really, if they think about it seriously and they take it seriously, then there's always that voice in the back of your head that tells you that this is gonna be hard. It's stayed hard in some ways and gotten easier in others. I adore the stories I've told and published, and I adore the ones that are still in first draft state and will, hopefully, one day become published.

There are lows, yes, but today I want to focus on the highs. I love getting to tell stories, love getting to know my characters. I create worlds, and plots, and conflict, and love, and I get to do it all, and get paid for doing so. I get to shine a light on certain aspects of humanity through using futuristic worlds, or even the one we have right now. I get to meet readers, people who have read my work and felt something for it. I get to sign books, books that once existed in my mind only and are now out there on paper, with a cool cover and sitting on people's bookshelves. Sometimes they're people I know and other times, they aren't, and to be that just seems amazing!

I love that writing has opened up new avenues to me. I have done signings, I have done talks, and I have enjoyed every single one. I've also had to push myself outside of my comfort zone, because this Joey is not one that likes to speak to a crowd or strangers, but because of writing, I need to, and that allows me to bloom and grow.

Overall, yes there are lows, like I said above, and it's not easy, but I wouldn't want to do any other kind of job, not that I think I would be capable of doing so because as a writer, I can write at 4am and do my work and then curl back up, whereas working a conventional job just wouldn't be feasible with the limited window of working time I have.

I just love being an author!

Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!

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