Comments on: Writing: For What It’s Worth

By: Steph Auteri

Steph Auteri — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:15:20 +0000

@amyg: Ha! Love it. Your husband and my husband would probably get along famously. :)

By: amyg

amyg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:28:49 +0000

steph,

i just found your blog through betsy lerner’s. (you’re my latest RSS feed. it’s true–blogging works!)

this post reminded me of a discussion my husband and i had when i left him with our two kiddos for a weekend of writing to make some headway on a novel i’m trying to bust out…

Endearing words from my loving husband as I prepare to leave for my weekend of writing:

“You could be the next Diane Steele…isn’t she the one that writes those love books? What are they? Sex books?”

By: Steph Auteri

Steph Auteri — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:29:31 +0000

@Alisa: That’s such an important point: If you don’t value your own writing as anything more than a hobby, why should your husband? Though writing is such a huge part of my career, I must admit, I have so much trouble asking for what I deserve ($-wise). I’m sure that unsure attitude must have some sort of effect on how others view and value my work.

@Sheryl: Amen to that! This stuff is hard work!

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:21:34 +0000

This is a really interesting post. I write for so many different reasons: to make money, to express myself, to satisfy an itch. But I’m afraid that many people who are not writers don’t realize the discipline and hard work it takes to be actually be and succeed as a writer. Until, of course, they have to sit down and actually compose something…then, after asking for my help, they eat crow (maybe).

By: Alisa Bowman

Alisa Bowman — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:50:53 +0000

I went through this recently when I shifted from doing health writing (which I still do) to doing more first person (blogging, memoir, etc). The health writing pays our mortgage. The first person writing was and still is a career investment. At first I made zero dollars doing it, so I didn’t take it seriously. It was still writing, but I saw it as a hobby. And then, even once I started making some money doing it–a small book deal, a small blogging gig here and there, an essay placed in a newspaper, getting paid to give a speech because of the first person writing, etc–I STILL saw it as a hobby. And because I saw it as a hobby, so did my husband. I ended up having a big smack down with myself that I realized that this was very much a part of my career. We’d once invested heavily in my husband’s career. He opened a business that earned him zero income for two years. Could I not feel worthy of this writing that was already bringing in some income? Yes, I could.

And once I valued it, he fell into line.