Last week I hit a milestone in my writing career—I handed in my 50th novel. Novel #51 is in edits.
While it’s only a number, it did feel like an achievement. I came to writing late, when I was 30, so I’ve only had two decades of writing so far in my career. While that makes me feel like I’m always playing catch-up, it makes me work pretty hard too. I started out in journalism and moved into nonfiction books and professional blogging back when that was a thing. I dabbled in fiction writing during that time but only seven years ago did I get serious about writing novels and it became my bread and butter.
The majority of my novels have been written as a ghostwriter for various publishers and individual clients. While I have more than a dozen novels out under my own name, they do not sell enough to be my sole income. Instead, they act as a CV for my ghostwriting work, which fills out my income nicely.
So how do I feel about having written so many novels? Satisfied, I suppose, but putting it in perspective it isn’t all that big of a deal. One of my good friends is a contract attorney. He’s worked on more than 50 cases. The research, writing of briefs, consultation with clients, and court time must surely equal the amount of work that goes into a novel.
I also have a friend who is a dedicated long-distance runner. He’s run more than 50 marathons. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather write the novels!
These two people have a work ethic. They work continuously at law or running and over the years their achievements pile up. Having come to writing late, I’ve always looked at it as a job, and put in proper work hours. After all this time, the words have added up, and I didn’t even have to ruin my knees or go to law school to do it.
Besides satisfaction, I also feel grateful to all of you for reading my stuff. Without readers, a writer isn’t going to have much of a career. So thanks. I really do appreciate it.
See you later. I’m busy writing novels #52 and 53!
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