Being a writer is a lonely business. You create the ideas for the books. You spend endless hours toiling in front of a computer screen as you type endlessly away. You put in the effort doing edits before sending your book out to a publisher.
…and waiting for word of rejection or acceptance.
Alone.
With only the voices in our heads for company.
Sound familiar? I think writers by definition are solitary beings. We pretty much have to be in order to concentrate on building new worlds and carving out relationships between our characters. However, there is another integral part of a writer’s life. The support system.
First on my list is my hubby. I can’t tell you how many times my guy has to listen to how wonderful or annoying my hero is or sit with a straight face when I run a plot point or story idea past him (*grumble grumble. Sandra, romance has no place in sci-fi*) But he’s my biggest fan and would probably like anything I wrote no matter when it really stinks.
Next on my support chain is my critique partner. She’s there for me in the gap, keeps me and my writing honest, pulls no punches when she doesn’t think chapters are working and will praise my work when she likes it. She lets me rant about a bad review or when I’m feeling down about the writing and she’s proud of me when things are good.
After that come the women in my critique group and my beta readers. They get first crack at my work once it’s passed the CP. The crit group is for the most part honest and the beta readers (a mix of writer friends and non-writing friends) are a great core group who tell me what they like or hate.
Everyone has different levels of support, but for me, I couldn’t do any of what I do without each brick in the wall. There are many more friends and acquaintances that support me along the way, and I'm grateful for every one of them. Love you guys!
Maybe a writer’s life isn’t as solitary as I thought…
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