Can you recall the moment writing went from hobby to career? Was it a long-term goal made reality or a happy accident?
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"It never really felt like a hobby. I was a very driven twelve-year-old (read: pyscho-ambitious) so I always wanted to get a book published. I didn't have a clue how to do so, but the goal was definitely always there in one from or another." - Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar.
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"Even now, with two published books, I still look at writing as my hobby. Which is odd, since I’d always wanted to be a writer, and I sort of stumbled into my profession as a nurse. But nursing pays the bills, and writing stories is what I do for fun. I have to keep reminding myself that when I’m stressing out about reviews or marketing plans." - Robin Bridges, author of The Unfailing Light.
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"From the moment I started writing, I was super disciplined about it, so it always felt like more than a hobby. That said, it wasn’t until I quit my day job as an engineer that I really felt like writing was my career instead of just something else that I did. Quitting the day job was a well-planned out event that was definitely part of goal planning." - P.J. Hoover, author of Solstice.
"Writing became a career when the first check came in the mail. It was never a hobby but a passion. I would be writing no matter what I do to make money." - Lara Avery, author of Anything But Ordinary.
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"Perhaps after I wrote a puppet play for my class of first graders. A mother came up to me and said, "That was good!" I didn't know what she was talking about. It was a puppet play for first graders. It turned out she was a literary agent for children's fiction. Now, she's my agent." - Adam Gidwitz, author of In a Glass Grimmly.
"The day my writing went from hobby to career was the day I decided to make it one, and that was five years before I ever sold my first book. I think writing has to be treated like unpaid career for a long time before it actually becomes one. Unless you’re really, REALLY lucky! And that happens, too!" - Sharon Cameron, author of The Dark Unwinding.
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"It was a determined goal, made the morning I stuck my daughter on the school bus. As the bus drove away, I decided to do what I’d always wanted to do – write a novel and get it published. So I started that very day." - Suzanne Selfors, author of The Sweetest Spell.
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"During college I took a writing workshop on the short story. The workshop was invaluable because it taught me how to revise a story, but it also marked the point at which I began to think seriously about getting published. As part of the workshop, our teacher showed us how to submit short stories for publication. After that, I began to think of writing as a professional thing. It actually scared me a lot, and it took me another ten years before I was able to begin actively working toward that dream. It was absolutely a goal of mine. I worked for it!" - Malinda Lo, author of Adaptation.
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On Tuesday, find out if the authors every worry about how their readers will react to a scene or plot twist.
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