Author Envy

As many of you know, I am a writer. I many not have anything published yet, but I can't deny that I was born to write. When I'm eating I think about writing, when I go anywhere with my kids I look for things to write about, when I watch movies I think about how the scene could have been written better. When I take pictures I think about the captions instead of the photo. I stay up until 2 am frequently just to write. Anytime I find a blog or an article that deals with writing, I HAVE to read it before I can finish whatever it was I was really doing.

Which leads to why I am posting this entry. Yesterday evening I spent some time working on my latest novel and adding a few paragraphs to another novel I had put aside. I also spent time preparing a manuscript to send to the Friend magazine. I was happy in my little writing cocoon until I realized I needed some information to finish my Friend submission. So I went online to find the answer to my question.

And that's when author envy set in.

You know when you have author envy when you find that you have spent 2 hours glaring at all the author interviews you can find online and cursing each witty and remarkably intelligent reply. You know you have author envy when you read book reviews at Amazon.com and mutter under your breath that you wish the idea for that book had hit you over the head. You especially know you have writer envy when you learn that there is an author living in your city and your first thought is to find them at all costs and make them tell you all their writing secrets.

Yes. Yesterday I was guilty of all three.

But in my opinion author envy is a good motivator. So I'm glad when it strikes. Because when it does, it is usually followed by increased creative output and an intense desire to finish all the unfinished manuscripts I have hiding in a computer file. Unfortunately this is also tempered by the fact that another side-effect of author envy for me is to voraciously consume every how-to book on writing that my local library has on the shelf.

Someday I will actually finish something and get it published. Hopefully sooner than later. So the next time you see me, ask me how my writing is coming. I will either have loads to tell you about what I am accomplishing or my own guilt will get my creative juices flowing again.

Yes, sadly, guilt and envy are the two most powerful motivators for me. It's pathetic, isn't it?!