One of the most exhilarating choices you may make in your life is to become ‘a writer’. There are many images and expectations about the writer’s lifestyle. It can be filled with joy and steeped in the wonder of language and expression. Writer’s have the opportunity to give something to the world. Writing is a profession often connected with the freedom of doing what you truly love for the rest of your life, but is it really?

Myth 1: Writing is like paid vacation.

Being a writer isn’t about having a book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble; it’s not about signings, tours, or discussions with your editor. Being a writer is about writing. You’re going to face occasions when you are challenged. You’ll have days when you doubt your ability to succeed and you’ll wallow in the misery of failure, not because you’ve failed but because you aren’t where you expect yourself to be. Writing is work, and it’s hard work at that.

Myth 2: Writer’s Enjoy Solitary Lives.

A common misconception is that writers are hermits. While the actual act of writing is often one best done in contented mental (not necessarily physical) solitude writing is about people and life. You can’t be a great writer if you don’t immerse yourself in your subject, in your readers. You can’t live in a black hole, never having seen the sky and write about the life of a bird. You have to live, meet people, get to know who your audience is, and write for that world, not yourself and the earthworms.

Myth 3: Writing is easy.

If you’ve chosen to be a writer because writing is easy you’re in for a shock. I don’t think any professional writer would ever say that this career isn’t more challenging than any other they’ve had in their lifetime. Writing is hard. The difficulty is a part of what makes the best writers so good.

Myth 4: Writers are rich.

This is one I really wish were true. The truth is, only a very select few, very good and very lucky writers ever get rich. Beginning writers make very little money. Many writers never make great money. In the early days of your writing career you’ll probably need a day job and you’ll probably still eat out of a can and scrimp for toilet paper.

Myth 5: Writers know everything.

Yes, writers come to know a lot but I’ve never met a writer who thought they had learned enough. Curiosity seems to be a requirement for writers. We are constantly striving to learn; we research, we study, we take courses, we workshop, we read, and read, and read. We thirst for knowledge and explore. We take chances and we fail, a lot. Writing is a journeyman’s life. There are no masters and it is impossible to perfect the craft (that doesn’t stop us trying).

Myth 6: Writers are always relaxed and happy.

There will be good days and bad days. There are days when we could sing from rooftops and others when every word feels dragged (slowly and painfully) from the depths of our souls. Writers tend to feel everything to a thousandth of a degree. Every tear is a thunderstorm, every kiss a rainbow. It’s important to allow yourself to feel every extreme and every emotion because these are vital for great writing. The best writers are the ones who can bleed onto the page, dragging themselves through every heartbeat, reliving every moment and create it with such intense reality that readers feel every beat as if it were their own heart pounding.

Writers are a kooky bunch of people. We come from all walks of life and each of us brings something unique and amazing to the world’s literature. The only people who will truly understand you are fellow writers. While your family shakes their head at this odd creature that inhabits their home we smile at our own families who are doing exactly the same thing.

It is a wondrous, heart wrenching life to lead. You’ll love it and hate it in every breath but you never really give it away. Our writing isn’t really ours to give up. It’s like a calling for the priesthood. Being a writer is about being who you are.