[Music]
what's it like being a professional
writer
well I'm tempted to say it's like
sorting through a tub of building blocks
or finding your way out of the woods
with some other daunting task but no
metaphor can do it justice really
because writing professionally is
discovery and doubt and delusion and
relief and achievement basically being a
professional writer is really fun so
here's my writing process more or less
first off the vast majority of my work
day is not spent clacking away at some
computer keyboard it's spent thinking
thinking about the next word and why I
want to say it thinking about whether
the sentence I just wrote sounds good
and while I think I'll stare out the
window or at the i-beams on the ceiling
until something worthwhile pops into my
brain
so once I've researched and organized my
ideas I start writing on the computer
now this is usually the point where I
convince myself that this assignment
will be a breeze and thanks to the
incredible ideas pouring forth from my
brain I'm also convinced that my writing
will be amazing overall I'm feeling good
then I read over my first draft and I
have to confront reality so my draft is
passable sure and one or two parts may
even be decent but most of it is
incoherent and clumsy this sentence
doesn't make any sense
that whole paragraph is irrelevant the
draft is a mess and I'm worried that I
don't know how to fix it
writing is a solitary job and self-doubt
can quickly turn that solitude and
isolation
especially when I'm lost in this
labyrinth of broken words and it feels
like I'll be working on this thing for
the next decade this is when I have to
remind myself that it's okay if the
first draft is ugly and hard to follow
first drafts are meant for exploration
experimentation their starting points
nothing more so I start fixing it little
by little and eventually I can't spot
any more problems when I submit the
draft of my editor I'm optimistic again
I have climbed out of the valley I have
triumphed over my doubt and my work is
done well actually no it's not I get the
feedback from my editor and turns out
I've still got plenty of work to do
sometimes a few things need to be added
or changed and other times the entire
assignment needs to be reworked from top
to bottom don't usually tries to creep
back over me while I review the
constructive criticism but I've got to
remember that feedback is meant to boost
my writing not serve my ego I need to
hear it when the revisions are finished
and submitted it's kind of a relief
really and it's only then that I can
look back on my work and say you know
that's not bad writing for a living can
be tedious and stressful at times sure
sometimes I can't think of what to say
sometimes my self-doubt tries to run the
show and these feelings come with the
territory but those difficulties are
nothing compared to how much I adore
this job I mean my workday consists of
thinking and exploring and creating and
staring at the ceiling and challenging
myself over and over and over again like
I said being a professional writer is
really fun
GCF global creating opportunities for a
better life