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In my first post yesterday, I mentioned that I've been writing since dirt was new. Not really, hopefully, but I've been telling the IRS that I'm a writer for so long I barely remember when I was a social worker. When asked, I tell people that I've had over 50 books published but I really don't know. I'm so fixed on the project of the moment that what's behind me fades and I can only give fleeting attention to what's around the corner.

What I'm trying to say here is that I've been in this crazy business so long that not much surprises me. And hopefully I know what I'm doing.
It's the knowing what I'm doing that I want to talk about this morning. (It is morning here in Oregon). Not only have I been approached who knows how many times by hopeful writers, I worked as a writing instructor at a correspondence school for around four years. A few, very few of my students, got it that writing is a business. Most are in that place I once was--filled with ideas and characters and dreams and drive but clueless about the reality of this career. As a brand new published member of RWA (Romance Writers of America), I attended a conference. During one workshop session, I sat in a room full of other published romance writers while the then brass of Harlequin/Silhouette spoke about the company's plans and our role in turning that future into reality. Most of us nodded happily as we were told that all we had to do was write our wonderful stories and leave the rest up to the brass. Then one writer stood up and asked a bottom line question I'd been too intimidated and naive to ask. Obviously the brass didn't know how to respond, but she persisted. And she got the numbers she needed. That done, she said, and I will never forget: "When I'm at my desk, I wear my writer's hat, but when I stand up, I take it off and put on my business hat." That's what I've learned to do over the years. It's also what most of the published writers I know do. They view writing as, not just a calling or craft, but a career.

More on that tomorrow because I tend to get long-winded on a vital subject.

Vonna