THE TOP 5 DANGERS OF BEING A WRITER by Allie Potts
1. Government Watch Lists: The Watch & Wand is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all but the most basic technology is outlawed. As a result, my search history includes all sorts of doomsday prepper supplies and survivalist techniques. Combined with the fact that I also write mysteries which require me to research various ways to kill people off while making it appear as a natural occurrence, it is a wonder I haven’t already had a visit by a government agent.
2. Split Personalities: Before I started writing I would nervously cross the street if I heard someone engaging in a two sided conversation with no one else present. Now, after catching myself trading barbs with myself out loud, I have to wonder if those other people simply were trying to work out the dialogue of a problematic scene.
3. Stunted Growth: This was not a concern of mine as I stopped growing upward sometime in the sixth grade, but for others you have to seriously wonder how much taller they might have been had it not been for the volume of caffeine the typical writer consumes.
4. Other Addictions: Look to most any writer’s bookshelf. A sandwich dressed by both mayonnaise and mustard might be considered an extravagant expense some weeks on a writer’s income, and yet an e-reader’s memories are filled and shelves sag as more books get added to the ever growing To Be Read list, rationalized as ‘research.’
5. Uncontrollable lies: Speaking of that To Be Read list, let’s go to the numbers. The average person reads at a speed of 200 words per minute. A book is considering a novel at 50,000, but some genre’s go far longer. Epic fantasy for example is often between 100,000 and 200,000. So let’s use then 80,000 words as a reference. This means that reading a book from end to end should take a typical reader 400 minutes or 6.67 hours.
As pesky things like sleep, family, and other jobs tend to get in the way of quality reading time the size of the To Be Read list rapidly outgrows available time and yet we can’t help ourselves from adding to it.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are other lies we tell ourselves:
- We’ll never be good enough
- We’re the best writer out there
- No one will read it
- It will be an instant best-seller
- The one negative review among the twenty positive ones was the only honest review
- the one negative review offering constructive criticism was written by a troll who obviously knows nothing as we are perfect
Choosing to be a writer is a dangerous path, but one I’ve never regretted taking.
Allie Potts is the author of The Fair & Foul and The Watch & Wand, books one and two of the Project Gene Assist series. Set in a not too distant future, the books take place at a time when science meets magic and biology merges with technology, while tackling what it means to be human.
Additionally, she is the author of An Uncertain Faith, a Rocky Row Novel, a cozy mystery/women’s literature story written for those who find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
When not finding ways to squeeze in 72 hours into a 24 day or chasing after children determined to turn her hair gray before its time, Allie enjoys stories of all kinds. Her favorites, whether they are novels, film, or simply shared aloud with friends, are usually accompanied with a glass of wine or cup of coffee in hand.
A self-professed science geek and book nerd, Allie writes everyday style stories, flash fiction, tips and tricks, and the occasional not-a-review review at www.alliepottswrites.com
Book links include:
- The Watch & Wand – http://authl.it/B07791KJ2Z
- The Fair & Foul – http://authl.it/B01678T7CU
- An Uncertain Faith –http://authl.it/B00PYYB06A
Social Media Links
- Twitter: @alliepottswrite
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliepottswrites/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alliepottswrite
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliepottswrites
Allie’s new book, The Watch & Wand launches Tuesday but is already available for pre-order on Amazon. Go check it out! Have a great Sunday! ~Phil
