1. Writing for free.
2. Being approached to write for free. (Too often.)
3. Writing in a very uncomfortable position while on a train/bus/plane/in a car.
4. Trying to write while your fur children/tiny humans are battling for your attention.
5. Falling asleep on your keyboard because you procrastinated again why do you always do this.
6. Wanting to agree to do another writing thing but oops you can’t create more hours in the day. Sad…
7. Accepting a writing gig because you want to buy a thing but can’t justify doing so otherwise.
8. Accepting a writing gig because you need to adult, even though you don’t want another writing gig.
9. Pitching something you don’t really want to write because you know it’ll circulate well.
10. Being able to quit a job you don’t like because you found a writing thing you do like — that pays.
11. Chasing after people who don’t answer their emails.
12. Not checking your email because you don’t want to interact with humans about work today.
13. Waiting.
14. Wondering why you never heard back.
15. Getting bad news that isn’t your fault.
16. Freaking out that your internet isn’t working even though you don’t technically need it to write.
17. Feeling slightly relieved when your internet stops working because you get a slightly longer work break.
18. Finally finding a quiet place to write … until someone shows up and starts talking on their phone.
19. People never understanding what you actually do all day. (Write. All day. It’s not as easy as it sounds.)
20. Finally settling into a style/genre/niche of writing you love.
21. Buying noise-canceling headphones so you can literally write anywhere, anytime.
22. Accepting the fact that writing isn’t always easy or fun, but you get to do it, and that’s pretty cool.
Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is a staff writer with The Cheat Sheet, a freelance editor and writer, and a nine-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food and nerdy things.
Meg Dowell Writes 
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