The Ravens Win It by Linda S. Glaz

So, the Ravens win the Super Bowl! It’s a game. It’s for fun. For us!

For the players: It’s work!

Sort of…like writers. We sweat and strain over 300 or more pages of narration and dialogue, work to get all the punctuation and grammar as clean as we can, and then, if we’re lucky, it goes to a publisher for production. And the readers think…wow! This is a winner. It’s fun, just for us!

And for the authors: It’s work!

Someone told me one day, “I’ve had such an interesting life. I should write a book.”

Yup, just like that. Sit down, write it out and publish a book. Not so much. That would be like expecting Tebow or any other QB to throw a touchdown without ever going to practice, just show up in a uniform and expect to play a good game. Doesn’t work that way.

Writers, like many other artists, bleed their lives into their novels. They have to create a little world all their own, invent the lives of the characters (as much as the characters will allow—and if you don’t understand that, you aren’t really a writer) and then painstakingly put the work out there to be torn apart so they can go back to square one again.

We’re all looking for the Super Bowl win. And while I was tickled for the Ravens, my heart broke for the 49ners. And it’s much the same with writer friends. I’m excited for those who get published, and I cry with those who don’t.

While we all strive for the Super Bowl ring (a lucrative publishing contract) remember to continue to celebrate with the others who worked hard and won before you!