Writing through thick and thin

This week has been one of frustrations, things that I couldn't ignore, like my front door suddenly deciding not to lock.  I've had a few of these things lately, forcing me to engage with the real world far too much.  That's something I'm lucky enough not to have to do on a daily basis.

Many published writers have to live this way all the time, squeezing their writing into the gaps between taking the kids to school, dealing with car breakdowns, and tackling pirates illegally downloading their books.  And then there's the day jobs most of them need to go to to make ends meet.  One well-respected mainstream published SF writer recently put out a call on Twitter for funding to stop her losing her house. 

Being a professional writer is a tough job.  And it really is a job.  Chuck out all those ideas you have of swanning about in your ivory tower in total solitude.  They only time you'll get close to that as a professional writer is when you're being left alone to write your first draft of your next book.

But if you already have a book published, the chances are that you're going to have to do publicity for it, and maybe make public appearances too, while you're writing your new book.  You'll be doing blog tours, tweeting cover reveals, and launch day snippets, all while creating something new.

Which means that you have to learn to write through thick and thin.  And when your iron goes bang two days before you're due to go to a conference, and you haven't ironed all the clothes you want to take with you, life can get a little challenging.  Especially if you're writing a first draft, creating something new out of thin air.

That's the stage I'm in right now.  I find it hard enough describing new worlds I've never seen before, and choreographing the action that takes place in them, without the irritations of doors that won't lock, and irons that won't heat up. 

But if I was under contract to write a book I'd have to show up every day.  That contract is a writer's day job, and I know by following a bunch of New York Times bestseller authors on Twitter that that's exactly how they treat it.  

Even when they're about to lose their homes, somehow they still need to create.  All power to them, I say.  At least I have the luxury of being able to take a day off to fix what's falling down.