Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
So long as readers keep reading and my publishers keep publishing, I plan to keep on writing. I'd have to be an idiot to be burnt-out in this job.
I knew that if I wrote a new book every six months or every year, if I continued to read great books, eventually I would write something worthy of publication. I understood I might be in my forties or my fifties or even my sixties, but I felt confident that it would happen.
I write for the love of writing. If I never published another book, I would still be writing stories.
There are many days when I want to throw my computer out the window, when I tell myself I'd be better off selling shoes at the mall. But I always keep at it, because I have to. Writing is completely part of who I am. Even if I never published another book, I would keep at it - because it feeds my life and makes it richer.
The conclusion I came to was that even if I couldn't sell books, I still liked the process of writing.
I'd have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money.
I wrote for years before I was ever published, and I don't think I could ever stop. That said, I was also a veterinarian before I sold my first book, and I still volunteer my time to help with animal welfare causes. So that is a career I would be happy to return to - while still secretly writing strange stories back in my doctor's office.
I didn't think I would be an exceptional writer, and I thought I might be a useful publisher. I've never regretted it.
As I said, I had no publisher for What a Carve Up! while I was writing it, so all we had to live off was my wife's money and little bits I was picking up for journalism.
Once I decided to write, to be published, I knew it would happen.