Do Writers Get Stressed?

Never. Surely.

Writers live the best lives. They sit at home, on the couch with their coffee brewing and the smells wafting through their nostrils.

Writers have their windows open as the sunshine and sea breeze pours in. Writers wake up around 10am, walk along the sand dreaming of all the beautiful creations they will make that day. Writers spend their afternoons in a local cafe with their laptop and endless coffee, they smile and chat with the staff and catch up with their friends in the evenings.

Writers are millionaires. They make a lot of money from their amazing creations and use that money to buy lots of coffee and beach houses.

I always thought this would be the case when I first published a book. I imagined it would come with riches and fame and beach houses and travel. I thought my book would be instantly known world wide and I would be inundated with book signings and author talks.

Crazy.

I have written a book and had it bought by a publisher.

What a different experience that was to the one I thought.

First of all, I thought I would be writing a fiction story.

I wrote about real life and real tips about living in The Netherlands – a place I called home for the last 12 months.

I spent three days hunched over my laptop from the crack of dawn till the dead of night writing this book. I don’t like to do things in halves.

My back ached, my eyes were red and I was very poor.

I sent the manuscript to the publisher and boom. My book was sold.

From that experience I learned writing is very different to how I imagined it.

Writing happens on the side of having a full time job. Writing happens in the evenings and weekends.

Having a social life? Unheard of.

Travelling the world on a book tour? Not in my experience.

Listening to the sound of the ocean and feeling the sun on your skin? In exchange for the guilt of not writing.

I love being a writer and I love that I have a book – and I can not wait to write another.

Do I feel pressure and stress? Yes.

What if I can’t write another one? What if all my ideas have dried up? What if everything goes wrong? What if… what if… what if…

Every moment away from the computer is a moment away from writing and that causes a lot of stress.

What do you think? Do you get stressed as a writer?