NaNoWriMo: Day 7 ~ Before They Were Authors

No doubt about it, writing is HARD work. Getting that work published is hard too—even with all of the different publishing methods out there. But the key, as with everything in life, is to practice...and never give up.

Even though I hit my word count goal yesterday, I started questioning everything about my story—does it make sense? Is the character interesting? Will the reader turn the page? It's the kind of self doubt that can give someone writer's block.

So instead of giving in (or up), I went on the hunt for inspiring stories about writers who didn't get blocked. Authors who kept on writing even when it was hard or scary or their lives got too busy. You won't believe what I dug up! Did you know that Stephen King was a high school janitor before he became one of the most well-known writers of all time?

John Grisham, whose legal thrillers line my dad's bookshelf, was a PLUMBER before he made it as a bestseller. And Charles Dickens—author of books like Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol—worked at a shoe polish factory when he was just 12 years old.

Margaret Atwood, one of Canada's best known authors, had a job behind the counter at a coffee shop before she penned The Handmaid's Tale, T.S. Eliot was a banker, and Arthur Conan Doyle—creator of Sherlock Holmes!—was a surgeon.

All of these writers worked on their books while holding down jobs or going to school, like S.E. Hinton, who wrote the classic young adult novel The Outsiders at just 16 years old! Which means, *I* should be able to write 167 words a day for the next three weeks, even if I have homework, or the holidays are creeping up. Time to get back it.

Gotta jet! I hope my list inspired you too. If you're writing today, may the words be with you.

~ Chase Superman Duffy