Okay, woah, woah, hold on. You saw the title and you’re coming for me with pitchforks, right? Well before you do, let’s reel it back a bit.
Let me explain. Please?
Aww, thank you, sweetie.
Okay so, being a writer sucks. Seriously. Its so hard! You’ve got characters to wrangle (*whip crack*), plot holes to fill (grab a shovel!) and all those ‘lil darlings’ requiring ruthless murder at the tip of your trembling ball-point pen (y’know… if you still write by hand).
Being a writer is technical. A fun and novel (haha!) idea, but first you’ve got to pick your point of view, decide on tense, find the perfect length…. Oh boy, someone grab me a glass of wine and a chocolate bar! There are so many moving pieces, at times it resembles trying to construct a jigsaw with the picture side down. With no edge pieces.
And don’t get me started on how long it takes. Got a day job? Ah, okay, fare-thee-well daytime hours, can’t use those. Kids? Have fun jamming those words into your day between changing nappies (for young ones), managing tantrums (for older young ones) and managing… well… bigger tantrums (teenagers). Hobbies? Only if those are trawling Google, Wikipedia and your local constabulary website (don’t ask).
No, really, don’t ask. All I’ll say is; how else would you find the fun factoids to give your carefully-spun yarn all the authenticity required to keep your readers hooked?
Phew!
So, yeah. Being a writer sucks.
That’s why I’m not a writer. I never have been.
(Okay, wait for it, you’ll love this part, I promise.)
I’m not a writer. No, no. I’m a wizard.
I’m a worldbuilder.
I’m a teacher.
I’m a visionary.
I’m an architect.
I’m a historian (if making up your own mythos counts as history, anyway).
I’m a mad scientist.
I’m occasionally (on special days) even considered a Cupid.
But more than any of that, and perhaps most important; I’m a storyteller.
I. Am. A. Storyteller.
I’m the deeply fortunate person able to dream up a crazy idea, visualise a scenario, imagine a character and bring those things to life. I’m privileged in my freedom to weave those elements into a book I can then place in your kind hands.
‘A writer’ isn’t something I am.
But writing is something I do.
Just as a stage magician waves a wand and calls incantations to awe and inspire the crowds (‘open sesame,’ anyone?), I cast my writing as a net across my readers to pull them with me on journeys of magic, vampires and adventure (and hawt vampires of course). Journeys they might otherwise never take.
Some of my fondest ever memories come from standing, jelly-legged, before a crowd of strangers (trying not to stutter) and reading to them. Sharing with them. Involving them in my craft. Knowing that all of them, just for a moment, have become one with me as we experiencing a tale together.
People gathering for stories is a tradition as old as human history. Sure, it’s changed over the years, but that core is still the same: stories told. Shared. Enjoyed. Treasured.
So yeah… being a writer sucks.
But being a storyteller? Well… I can’t think of anything on earth I could possibly enjoy more.
Ileandra Young is one face of Da Shared Brain, who also writes erotica and romance as Raven ShadowHawk. This face writes urban and traditional fantasy, watching the moon at night and dreaming up new supernatural creatures to let loose on her characters. When not writing, Ileandra can be found LARPing (gleefully), snoring (loudly), or playing Minecraft with her twin sons.
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