Taking Care of Business

            Every career has a downside.  Okay, possibly “heir” has no downside.  Wait—even that has the unfortunate consequence of casting doubt upon your friends’ real motives.  Think about other professions.  A woman becomes a lawyer because she cares about defending the little guy.  But then she discovers she has to deal with lawyers constantly.  A man opens a restaurant because he loves food.  But then he has to scramble because of flaky waitresses who don’t show up when they have a fight with their boyfriends.  A guy becomes a doctor to heal people, but spends half his day solving petty quarrels amongst his office staff.  Ask around; you’ll see there’s always a flip side to the job you thought you’d love.

So what’s the downside of writing?    It’s handling the business side of things.  It’s writing cover letters,  getting an agent, learning new software, corresponding with editors, promoting your work, even doing book signings.  In short, anything but writing itself.  I once heard a ballerina say she’s either dancing, or waiting to dance.  I feel the same way about writing.  And, truth be told, even when I’m not at the computer I’m still writing in my head.  That vacant look on my face, that inability to remember what you just said?  Writing.  I still remember my mother, when I was seven or eight, standing in front of me in exasperation and asking, “Where are you?”

            And if you’re a real writer, you’re the same way.  I pity our spouses.  I pity our children.  They have to live with someone whose brain is on vacation the majority of the time.  All we really want to do is make up stories.  But reality intrudes and we have to parent, be a caring spouse, run a household, and (cue the ominous music here) sell our work. 

If you made a list of the traits it takes to tell a story, and the traits it takes to sell a story, those two lists will not match up at any point.  We are thrust into the uncomfortable arena of bookkeeping, filing, phoning, mailing, and dealing with real live people.   Alas.  Why can’t we just write, and have someone else do all that stuff for us?

Well, if we get famous enough, we can.  There are secretaries, agents, and managers who sail smoothly through these tasks if you can afford to hire them.  Until then, it’s on you to handle the marketing. So you’ve simply got to roll up your sleeves--  or put on your Big Girl Panties-- and do it.  It’s distasteful, it’s boring, but it’s what grownups learn to do.  And if you can’t summon the discipline to do the difficult, you’re in the wrong line of work.  Writing, like it or not, includes moments of not writing.  It’s part of the job description and actually needs to be given a steady percentage of your time. 

A mediocre writer who’s willing to tough it out taking care of business will succeed over the brilliant writer who refuses, every time.  So don’t invest a lifetime creating wonderful stories and then shoot yourself in the foot by refusing to market them.  Be the talented writer who can both spin a tale and get it into the right hands.  That’s what professional writers do.  Even when they don’t like it.