The Problems With Being An Author

Authors are strange creatures. To most sane people we seem like the sort that should be locked up in a zoo and studied. We don't necessarily have mental disorders, yet we completely see imaginary people. We talk to ourselves more than we talk to other people, we fail piano exams because our characters interrupt us. We never go anywhere without a notebook and a pen, and we can predict most plot twists in books and movies.
Before I was an author, I thought authors were insane.
Now I'm an author and I think everyone else is insane.

However, despite the fact that it's amazing being an author and most of us enjoy it, there are also many things that are... well... not so good about being an author. I've decided to make a list of them for lack of a better blog subject to post on.

People Think You're Insane
I, and most authors that I know, have gotten so many weird looks when talking to our characters or planning a book out loud, that we keep the conversations inside our heads now, because it's simply easier than explaining about our characters. Conversations aren't the only things, though. We stop when a character walks past. I've freaked out at my sisters before because they sat in a chair my character was on. I've almost slept on the floor because my bed was filled with characters. (Nena, Jade, Gavin, Alyssa, Jack, and Shawn.)

Writer's Callous
Unless you write by hand, chacnes are that you have a writer's callous. That is- a hard piece of skin where your hand rests against the desk as you type. I only have one on my right hand inexplicably, but it's there. (Unsurprisingly, it's the worst in November. Go figure.)

Too Many Ideas
I know some authors who can't get a good idea to save their lives. And it's hard when you are focusing on coming up on ideas. But when you're just relaxing, when you're in the middle of writing another novel already, when life is good... Bam. You'll get an idea, and suddenly that is the one thing that you need to focus on more than anything else. That leads to the next one...

No Focus
Once you have your ideas, chances are you aren't going to be able to focus on anything. Because after a while of thinking about that one, perfect idea, you start to get discouraged about it. Which means you don't want to think about it. But then you don't want to not think about it, because your other books make you feel like failures. This leads to being an author laying on their bed, trying not to think about writing or characters. (Pretty well impossible.)

Feelings of Failure
It's true that anyone can feel like a failure. But authors more so. Because when their characters are being stupid, or they haven't written or edited for a long while, or when they don't want to edit, or when they can't plan out a good plot, or when they get some (good) constructive criticism, they feel like complete failures.


Hope that helps the balance. :)