Writing Full Time: The Good and the Bad

Good: You get to write for a living.

Bad: Writing is a small part of being a writer, and many other things actually take up most of your time.

Good: You can work when you want to.

Bad: It's hard to force yourself to work when you're in your own house with all your cool stuff, like the Internet and DVDs and books and video games.

Good: You don't need to dress for work.

Bad: Three days without bathing and even the dogs will avoid you.

Good: You get to see your name in print. (Check out the June 2006 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine featuring my short story SUFFER, featuring Jack's buddy Phineas Troutt in a nasty snuff film tale, currently available in bookstores and newsstands everywhere.)

Bad: Your name is sometimes followed by "predictable, hackneyed, cliched, and formulaic."

Good: You have fans.

Bad: You have detractors. And for some reason, they usually have bigger mouths than your fans.

Good: You have a megaphone to share your self-promotion tips with people, at cool places like New Works Review.

Bad: Shouldn't you be out self-promoting instead of writing about it?

Good: You get to do cool online interviews for places like CHICAGO WRITES.

Bad: You don't get as many as you'd like. And why hasn't Entertainment Weekly called yet?

Good: You receive a lot of email.

Bad: You spend a lot of time answering email.

Good: People are already ordering your next book.

Bad: But not many.

Good: You're living your dream.

Bad: Ain't nothing bad about that!