2019 Week 1: Doing it for Fun, Profit, or Other.
šĀ Happy New Year!Ā š
Look whatās back in 2019. For the heck of it, I checked the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge page and found the first topic for this year. So, it looks like you have something to read over here on Fridays. These days I need a topic to get me going.
Here’s a look back to the first topics in 2017 and 2018. (In 2017 my first post was the fifth week of the challenge.)
Week One: Doing it for fun, profit, or other. I should make this about writing, huh? My mind went somewhere else for a moment. Ha-Ha.
#AmWriting Time is Money ~ Or Is It Something Else? #MFRWauthor
Why not all three?
Fun:
Writing is fun. When it stops being fun, Iāll quit writing. However, I donāt know if Iāll be able to set it aside if the day comes. Writing calls to me. It would hurt so much if I couldn’t write. Iāve already said in an earlier post, if I donāt see changes in the upcoming year, I will stop publishing, which doesnāt mean Iāll stop writing. Would I continue to nurture what is published? I donāt know.
All the other jobs that go hand-in-hand with writing aren’t fun, anymore.
Profit:
If you arenāt new here, you know I also write for profitāfor survivalāto live the 
simple lifestyle I choose to live on my own. Simple in the true sense of the word. Without the book income, well, it’s too scary to think about. Writing for profit is an addition to the fun part.
Other:
- For my readers who wait patiently for the next story.
- Self-satisfaction.
- Pride.
- My love of writing. Putting pen to paper or having my fingers on the keyboard soothes my soul.
- To quiet the voices inside. If I allowed the voices inside to be let loose without writing the ideas down, Lord only knows what might happen. My head might burst.Ā š±Ā Would you be willing to take the chance of your head exploding? Not me. This takes me back to the question about writing when it’s no longer āFUNā and the ability to stop or not. How would I fill my time if writing wasn’t a part of my life?
- I love creating characters and their stories.
- ā¤Ā I choose to believe in happily-ever-after, but I have considered adding an additional genre later on.
What about you authors reading this post? Have you asked yourself why you write? For fun? For Profit? Other reasons?
Authors taking part in this 2019 52-Week Challenge blog hop have answered the question in the topic this week. Check them out here.
Thanks for reading!
Note: I’m behind in reading last week’s blogs. I will catch up on this and last week.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
16 thoughts on “#AmWriting, 2019 Week 1: Time is Money~ Or Is It Something Else? #MFRWauthor”
Teagan R. Geneviene
Hi Mary. I’m happy that you’ve written yourself into the new year. š
At this point, I think I would write (something — likely not what I really wanted to write) no matter how hard I tried to not write… Happy New Year, my friend.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
It would be difficult for me not to write, Teagan. It’s always been fun, so I don’t know what it would be like if it wasn’t fun, anymore. Writing is like breathing. Publishing is a whole other thing. I lived most of my life without publishing, but I haven’t lived without writing.
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Jacquie Biggar
Corny as it sounds, writing nourishes my soul. And I get a huge sense of satisfaction finishing a book; I mean, I did that! Best feeling ever!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
It doesn’t sound corny to me, Jacquie. I feel the same way! ā¤
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Cathy Brockman
Great reaons to write. I write for most of the same reasons. It is fun( mostly) hoping for profit this year) snd hoe would we tame those voices without writing!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Taming the voices is a whole other issue, Cathy! haha. ā¤
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Kate Hill (@katehillromance)
You listed lots of great reasons to write, and I agree about writing even when there’s no profit involved. It’s great to make money, but writing is also my favorite way to express myself.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Kate. I get it. Expressing myself is exactly why I started writing in the first place. All the “stuff” needed to come out. Profit is always nice. Thanks for visiting. I’ve been way behind on getting around to the MFRW posts these last two weeks.
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storimom2
I had my most successful year, sales-wise, this past year, and hope it continues! I love meeting readers and newbie writers asking questions about how I got started and helping/encouraging them on their journey.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Fantastic, Molly! I’m feeling confident about this year. Whenever I can offer help or advice to a new author, it shows me how much I have learned myself, so I get what you’re saying. (But there is so much more to learn.) š
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Ed Hoornaert
I”m not at all sure I’d keep writing if I couldn’t make a bit of pocket change here and there. It’s too long and arduous to create, say, a novel. For me, the situation isn’t like music. After leaving a professional orchestra in Canada, I’ve continued to play my oboe in a (very good) amateur orchestra . . . maybe because there is an audience. Writing with no audience . . . seems useless.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Before publishing I wrote without an audience, Ed. No, I certainly don’t want to do it again, so I hope things turn around this year. Sure, there were things I could’ve done differently last year. Pulling books 1 and 1.5 from publication for two months wasn’t a mistake, but it upset the algorithms when I republished after a major revision. One thing led to another and promo for a while came to a halt for a lot of the year.
We have to market our books, anyway, but with Amazon’s “pay to play” game now with their AMS Ads, it is costing more money to make money as a KDP author, and this irks me to pay for what used to be free. I’m published wide and not in Select. They aren’t the only ones playing this game. By the way, I love the sound of an oboe and pick up on the sound when I go to a symphony.
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Rhonda Gilmour writing romance as Sadira Stone
Hello, Mary. I’m at the phase where I’m hoping for profit, but with only one book out, I’m still writing mostly for fun. I agree: all the promo and techie chores that come along with publishing aren’t always fun, but I know all this learning is good for my brain. I wish you happy, healthy, productive writing in 2019.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Rhonda. I remember having one book, and thankfully I had the second in the series started to keep me going emotionally with no profit. I’m far from where I’d like to be, and it’s still fun, but…I keep writing the next book. LOL. In addition to our MFRW group, if you’re on Facebook and aren’t in the Author Support Network group run by Marie Force, I recommend it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/AuthorSupportNetwork/
I lurk most of the time and comment or ask questions sometimes, but I learn so much there, too. Thanks for stopping by. Happy New Year!
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D. Wallace Peach
Great question, Mary. I write for all three, but I could use a little more profit! Lol. Mostly for fun, though. I think we have to love this vocation foremost, because it’s a ton of work and the road to success is a long long haul. ā¤
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I’m glad you said, “long long” haul, Diana. It sure is. I can’t imagine doing this if I didn’t love the writing and creating part.
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