Goodreads asked Rick Boling:

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Rick Boling I don’t know that there is a “best thing” for me as a writer. Like many other writers, I don’t have much choice in the matter. I’ve always been a dreamer and a story teller, and once I learned to write it seemed only natural to put these things down on paper. I’ve also always been a keen observer of people and how they interact with the world, constantly making up stories in my head about them. And eventually these stories have to come out or I feel like my head will explode. I do enjoy the independence of being a writer, and I’m fascinated by those little sparks of creativity that sometimes invade my mind without requiring any conscious effort on my part. But for the most part, the writing process is difficult, lonely, and simply a lot of work. It’s work that I love, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard or sometimes gruelingly frustrating. Creating first drafts is probably the most “fun” part of my work, but that only accounts for about 10% of the time it takes to complete a novel. The other 90% consists of editing, rewriting, dealing with criticisms from others, then starting the process all over again. Of course, there’s the thrill of hearing someone say how much they enjoyed the finished product, or that they recognized part of themselves in one of my characters, or how what I wrote made them face some problem they had been struggling with. So I guess, in the end, I could say the “best thing” is the satisfaction of having written something that touched others in a positive way.

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