Writing - Exhausting!

As I've grown older, I've looked at many ways to relax - weaving, research, exploring, antiquing, sewing, knitting and reading to name a few.

My passion has always been reading with a deep burning desire to write. In the last year, I have bought and established WordsAPlenty.com to fulfill my passion and interests.

Recently, I was asked to ghost write a historical romance novel.  How many of you have read a book and said, "I could write that so much better" or "they left this out" or "it would be better if they added more information on this character?" As the old cliche goes, "easier said than done!"  My first ghost writing endeavor was to add 14,000 words to a novel bringing it up to 40,000 words.  A piece of cake or so

I believed.  

I sat at my computer and began adding to the existing content. This was going quickly - I was watching the numbers move upward.  After a mere two hours, I found I had surpassed the set number and I still had more to add! Then it dawned on me, I was not looking at the word count but rather the character count.  Three evenings passed and again, I believed I was nearly finished.  I had only 400 more words to add ... those were the most painful and mind draining words I have ever written!  I sat in my seat for another hour before it dawned on me - the villain had no history, no background, she just appeared and played a large role in the book.  Biting the bullet and hoping to not offend the author, I added not just 14,000 words but a whole new chapter!

The next time you think writing is easy, it is not.  It is not fun and it can be painful.  It is fulfilling but leaves the writer at the mercy of readers. This is not a past time or career for anyone with thin skin or lack of discipline.  I doubt I will be writing anything else, anytime soon other than reviews of books.  

If you are a writer, you have my deepest respect.