Expectations V.S. Reality of Being a Writer

 

We all believe we’re the next F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some of us are. Some of us aren’t. Some of us are napkin-scribblers. Some of us are dreamers. Some of us are even better than we once hoped. Some of us aren’t, but are getting there.

And all of us have a reality that isn’t quite what we expected.

Enjoy the EXPECTATIONS vs. REALITY of being a writer.

1. Expectation: I’ll write while moodily hunched over my typewriter at the midnight witching hour.
   1. Reality: Laptops make life easier.
2. E: I’ll hobnob in some café in Paris or New York with other writing elite, discussing my best-selling novel
   1. R: You’ll talk to your dog/cat/houseplant.
3. E: I’ll be the next J.K. Rowling
   1. R: You can be the next YOU. Rowling’s already taken.
4. E: Success will come easily.
   1. R: Success never comes easily. Success is an elusive demon who hides in shadows and fears where sunlight treads.
5. E: I can use the internet for just one moment and get right back to writing.
   1. R: You’ll end up on YouTube watching cat videos for five hours.
6. E: My ideas are completely original. Shakespeare wishes he were me.
   1. R: We all fall victim to writing clichés. But it what you do with those tropes that counts. Invert them! Prove us all wrong!
7. E: I can waltz into a publishing house and they’ll immediately accept my 500-page manuscript on the spot.
   1. R: Sure, you can waltz in there. But they’ll probably politely tell you that their correspondences are held over email these days.
8. E: I am a genius!
   1. R: Who knows? Maybe you are one. Only time will tell.
9. E: I am a tortured, writing soul.
   1. R: We’re all tortured souls.
10. E: I’ll write every day on a perfect writing schedule.
    1. You won’t. It’s inevitable that you’ll fall of the bandwagon and screw up. But that’s okay. We’re all human. Writers are just a special breed, a stubborn one.