NaNoWriMo Day 6: Did You Know? (The Author Edition)

I don't know about the weather where you are, but Alberta—at least where I live—is experiencing a sudden cold snap. Overnight, it dropped to below 25 degrees Celsius. Brrr. Walking to school this morning will not be fun, no matter how many layers Mom wraps us in.

And maybe the cold is freezing my brain a little, because I'm a bit stuck on my story. Don't worry, I'm not giving up—that's not an option!—but I think I need a bit of a pep talk, some kind of advice that will give off the warm and fuzzies I'm looking for on this chilly morning.

So, 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. You probably know this, but Dawn Ius, the author of the Superman Duffy educational graphic novels about "cartoon me" and three young adult novels with Simon & Schuster, used to be a journalist before she turned to creative writing. (Actually, she's still a journalist...) And one of my favourites, R.L. Stine—author of the Fear Street and Goosebumps books—used to write comedy before he started penning thriller for young readers. No wonder some of his stories are so funny!

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 (which was made into one of my favourite movies) The Outsiders at just 16 years old! Which means, *I* should be able to write 334 words a day for the next three-ish 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