Being a writer is scary

How many people can say they kill people for a living and get away with it? Well, if you’re a suspense writer, you can. The ability to make up dangerous situations and then throw your main characters headfirst into the action, is both fun and a little scary.

 

I tell my husband all the time that I hope no one ever takes a serious look at my computer history. They’d see such things as what is the name of a fast acting poison? What’s the best long range weapon for a sniper? What type explosives can bring down a building? Research for writing suspense can take you to some strange places.

 

And yes, all those things are scary to think about, but there are other parts of writing that are equally frightening. Like sitting down to a blank screen and writing…something. There’s nothing more exciting or daunting than typing those first few words of a book, or trudging through the middle of a story when you’re really not sure where things are going, then finally limping battered and bruised across the finish line to be able to write, “the end”.

Then, just when you think your heart couldn’t possibly take any more excitement, it’s time for the edits. That in itself can be scary because most times your editor is asking you to stretch yourself as a writer in order to make your story the best it can possibly be.

With the edits finished, you ca relax, right? Wrong. The book is ready to be released, but what if no one likes it? Just because you wrote it, agonized over every single word in it, doesn’t mean the reader will have the same reaction you did.

So you see, writing can be scary, but let me just say, I wouldn’t trade a second of the terror, the rollercoaster ride of emotion, or the nail biting moments of doubts, for anything else. Because it is a true blessing to be able to say I am a writer, scary or not.

 

 

 

All the best…

Mary Alford

www.maryalford.net