Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

So, you married yourself a writer, eh? You bought into the romantic notion of the two of you sitting fireside, drinking glasses of pinot noir while your significant other sits beside you writing the next great American novel. The only sound is the crackling fire and the tapping of the keyboard as they belt out their genius.
Every once in a while your significant other looks up from their masterpiece and flashes you a smile that makes you feel like you’re the most special person in the world. Your house and bank account are huge and your worries are small.
Yeah right, think again. Unless you’re one of the lucky few who actually make a living at their craft the reality is much different.

My wife married me, a writer, and let me tell you how reality is for her. I have a strict routine which I follow daily. Any deviance from this routine and I feel disconnected with the world and my place in it. This routine has been ongoing for fifteen years now. I have been with my wife for sixteen years, so this is nothing new for her.

Every morning, after brushing my teeth, I fix a cup of instant coffee and sit down in front of my computer. That’s how it is. That’s what I do. This is my most creative time and I’m always at my best. This is when I write new material and give old material a serious read. I must do this alone, which means no noise, or activity around me.

My wife spends her mornings upstairs alone, watching TV or getting ready for work. My writing usually lasts about an hour and a half and when I’m finished, I immediately exercise for another hour. At this point, my wife has started her day and is off somewhere not to be seen until the evening hours. For me, depending upon if I’m working my conventional job or not, the afternoon is spent marketing and promoting. Before I went indie, I used to fill this time with querying agents and publishers, but thanks to the digital revolution, these people are no longer necessary. My nights are spent jotting ideas and reading other people’s books. Occasionally, my wife will sit beside me and also read a book.

Every month I get direct deposits from Kindle and various other outlets, and I smile that I’m actually earning money at my craft and people are reading my stuff. However, as far as the romance of what being married to a writer is like; it does exists, at times, but usually we’re both drinking pinot noir and there isn’t any writing going on.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Instant coffee? I don't think I can know you any more!

But on the whole I can relate to almost everything else in this little snippet into your life. It all feels very familiar, not exactly the same, but familiar.

haha, Starbucks is too expensive.

Starbucks? No, ground coffee, done in a cafetiere.

Or tea. Full leaf tea, brewed in a pot. Maybe a ceylon or darjeeling or possibly an oolong :)

Um, I actually dedicated my first book A Song For Josh to (don't laugh) the staff at a certain drive-thru who kept me in iced mochas during the writing of my Drifters series. I did not admit publicly that it was McDonalds...we have no Starbucks (small Canadian town) and I can't handle instant coffee either! Weird, but the espresso in the mochas must sharpen my brain ha ha because I do my best writing after drinking a mocha...now it's a habit and I can't write without it!

And the cool thing is that my partner will even occasionally bring me one now...he is starting to adjust to life with a writer although occasionally misses me, I think...can we help it if sometimes we would rather be with our characters? Is that even healthy? Are the rest of you as disconnected as I am when you are writing?

Luv this thread...makes me feel less alone as a writer.

see ya

Really enjoyed your blog, Neil. I especially like the part about the agents and publishers are no longer necessary. I think the digital revolution is the best thing that's happened in a long time. I can't imagine going traditional now that I've been self-publishing. I wasted over a year sending query letters when I wrote my first book. I love being, reading, and reviewing indies!!!

As much as I love both real coffee and tea I can't afford a steady supply of Starbucks either. But I have to say I write best in a moderately busy cafe. It's the white noise I think. I need it. This all reminds me of a picture I saw on Nadia Scrieva's blog at some point. She apparently writes in bed and had a picture of it with something like 30 Starbucks cups on the bedside table. Caffeine definitely helps.

You see, a ready supply of ground coffee and an endless number of different leaf teas was the reason I married a tea obsessed woman with a good job. I have no idea why she married a writer... :)

My spouse seldom gets to see me at my writing. If I can't be in a cafe (like Sadie I do best with that white noise--also, having paid three buck for a coffee and the right to sit there, I have to produce), I wait until everyone leaves the house, make my own latte (much cheap than SB, and way better, too), and vibrate between the couch (for writing longhand) and the computer (for edits and those times when I want a keyboard).

I work for two hours, then go workout, have lunch, and maybe get some more done in the afternoon unless I have chores or other work that needs doing.

I seldom accomplish much on weekend,when everyone is home and I can't get at a real computer.

I also brew my own espresso at home, which I turn into the perfect mocha by adding milk and Ovaltine (tastes good and is good for you, lol). I can't afford to buy espresso drinks at a cafe or restaurant, and I've gotten the perfect mocha down to a science (two ounces of espresso, four ounces of heated milk, and two tablespoons of Ovaltine).

I start the day with my "morning ritual," in which I drink my mocha, check my e-mail, and do a small bit of social networking. Hubby usually rises about an hour after I do, so beyond the cats demanding breakfast, I have a quiet house. One of hubby's editing jobs has him on-call late at night, so "morning" for me has become what "afternoon" is to most other people. I write for a couple of hours a day, as health issues will not permit me to do much more than that.

Hubby edits from home. This means we're both typically in the home office together, but doing our own thing. Sometimes he'll have me look over a particularly trying editing job, and I will ask him to read a chapter of my work. It's the perfect arrangement for the two of us, as we both prefer to spend as much time as possible together, even if we're each on our computer working independently.

No expensive wines for us, however; we're just not at that income level (yet...). ;-)

Well, we're not married, but I'm lucky enough to have a partner who is as obsessed with his craft (filmmaking) as I am with mine (writing). It's very common for us to be sitting in the same room, typing/clicking away on our respective computers. Parallel crafting, I call it. Oddly enough, we both really enjoy this set-up and feel that the creative energy in the room is enhanced by it O_o

My husband says he never noticed a difference. Before I started writing, my nose was always in a book. Now it's in the laptop. Usually, I get home from work at 3 and only break for supper, then back to the keyboard (I also do SEO copywriting) That's going to change, though. I'm finally selling enough to quit my day job so as of March 1, I'm a full time writer.
As for coffee? It's a food group in this house. Plain old black straight from a 1940s electric percolator. I burn out those Mr. Coffee types in less than a year!

WOW! That's wonderful, Jaqueline, that you're making a living at writing now. I'm so happy for you!

Now let me be honest. I'm not leaving a high paying, high power job, so please don't think I'm the next best selling author. lol. I've been writing for years, going the rounds of agents, etc. I kept getting these really nice letters. Love your 'voice'. Love your characters. Love the story, but... It got so I preferred the form letters. Last July my daughter convinced me to epub. One of my books took off and the others are gaining speed. I just put my sixth book up, the second in the series with the big seller and so far, it's selling really well.
I write paranormal romance and contemporary romance. My PNRs have found a niche market. They different, more like romance in a paranormal setting.
Oddly, the book I love the most, the contemporary, isn't doing much at all. So, I have to conclude it's the luck of the draw and the fact of the matter is that I would have been happy to sell only a few. I'd still be writing.