Are you sure you want to be a writer?

Over the years I've encouraged a lot of aspiring writers. I'm pretty sure for most of them that was bad advice.

Not everyone really wants to write. It's true. A lot of people say they want to write a book. Some even write a little. Most would love to be a published author but don't want to spend hours alone at a computer with no guarantee they will ever be published.

Who can blame them. There are a lot of days I feel the same way.

So I understand people who decide to stay with their day jobs and their vacation and sick pay, health insurance, 401 Ks and social network. Those people still get excited about Fridays because they get two days off and don't even have to think about work, let alone spend their weekends and nights writing.

That's why it meant something to me when a friend of mine recently gave me her finished manuscript to read. She has a great idea for a young adult series. I've encouraged her to write it for a long time.

Well, she did. And it's great. I couldn't put it down.

There is nothing more exciting for me than reading her book because I know how hard this was for her. She has a full-time job, other responsibilities and went through a cancer scare. But she made the time and wrote the book. That's monumental.

She FINISHED the book.

Hopefully an editor will love this book as much as I do and my friend will get it published and write many more.

But I hope for a while she just enjoys this personal achievement. She wrote a book. There is nothing cooler than that.

And no matter how many books I write, I still get a little choked up each time I write "The End."

B.J. Daniels
www.bjdaniels.com