Author Blogs
So, I read a lot of author blogs, for fun and edification. What are author blogs? They are blogs written by published authors, and they write about things ranging from their own work and writing process to their lives in general. If you're a writer, author blogs are a great way to get insight into writing, publishing, and even marketing your own work; if you're a reader (and if you're a writer, you should be a reader too, but not vice versa), you can find the blogs of your favorite authors and read about how crazy they get while they're attempting to finish a book in time for their deadline. One of the best things I've learned is that even writers you admire -- people you think are amazing and so good that their stories spring fully written and beautiful right out of their head -- go absolutely insane at some point in their writing process, freaking out over a deadline, fretting that their plot makes no sense or that their characters won't behave, deciding right then and there that they'd be better off fleeing to another country and changing their name after handing in such a terrible manuscript to their editor, etc. It makes me feel more secure about my own writing.
In any case, here's one blog that I can turn to again and again for some of the funniest writing on writing ever -- Maureen Johnson, author of teen books Girl at Sea, Devilish, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and more: http://maureenjohnson.blogspot.com/index.html . For an idea of how funny she is, check out this post on Why YOU Should Be A Writer.
Here's an excerpt:
"First of all, writing is not a career in the way that being an accountant or a nurse is a career. It does not have the structure, the hours, the promotions, or anything else associated with a “normal” job. You will also have to go through this conversation a lot:
SOME GUY: Hey, what do you do?
WRITER: I’m a writer.
SOME GUY: No, I mean for your real job.
WRITER: I’m a writer.
SOME GUY: No, I mean for money.
WRITER: Oh. I’m a ditchdigger.
Because you might be. Writers often take other jobs in order to make ends meet. You really shouldn’t consider writing as a career goal if making a lot of money is a priority for you. I’m not saying that writers can’t make a lot of money. I’m just saying, if it’s a requirement, become a banker or a celebutard.
People should be writers if and only if they feel that they have to write, no matter what the consequences. You’ll do it even though you may never, ever get paid for it. You will do it using whatever you have on hand. You prefer a computer or a Moleskin notebook, but you will use napkins if that’s the only thing available. You will probably write when you are supposed to be doing something else, like your German homework or your ditch digging."