Being Easy

1:17 AM Elizabeth Seckman 27 Comments

If these words make you cringe...you may be easy too.

One of the drawbacks of being a writer is that your job has no hours.

Don't get me wrong...it TAKES hours. It just doesn't HAVE hours.

There is a huge amount of flexibility to the work. We can push our deadlines. Play hookie. Get distracted. Fall behind. Drop off the face of the literary world...all because...why?

Because no one can fire us, you say? Maybe, but no...

It's because we're insecure.

It's tough to say, "No, I can't do that...I have to work."

Because seriously, how can we- with a straight face- call this work?

We're just drinking coffee and making crap up.

That's not work.

So, in your guilt, which is induced by the lack of gumption to call hanging out with pretend people a job, you agree to do just about whatever someone calls and asks you to do.

Or is that just me?

My husband says it's just me.

He says I'm too easy.

I told him I thought that was what he loved most about me....

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This has been an IWSG post.
Join us here!

*I'm going to take a tiny blog break. I need to catch up on, well, just about everything!
I'll be back next Friday. Pinky swears.

27 comments:

NicolaDecember 2, 2015 at 6:14 AM
I loved this post, Elizabeth! You did make me giggle. You pretty much summed it all up perfectly. I'm also easy, even though my husband would probably add under his breath (..."not to live with.." ) :) Have a great week of easiness :)
Alex J. CavanaughDecember 2, 2015 at 6:44 AM
Not even going to touch the easy line...
Hey, making crap up is work! At least for me.
Thanks for mentioning CassaStar's sale!
Author R. Mac WheelerDecember 2, 2015 at 7:25 AM
I never make shit up. The voices tell me what my character does, where she goes, who she kills. Then cackles with laughter.
Madeline Mora-SummonteDecember 2, 2015 at 7:49 AM
This is so true about writing - "...it TAKES hours. It just doesn't HAVE hours." I've had to defend myself and my writing more often than I'd like. Not fun.
Pat HattDecember 2, 2015 at 7:56 AM
That is what they made caller id for, so I can ignore lol
David Powers KingDecember 2, 2015 at 8:17 AM
I'll admit, writing can feel like work at times, but other times it feels like a hole in one, which is why I keep coming back to it. :)
Julie FlandersDecember 2, 2015 at 8:39 AM
That ending made me laugh - you're bad!
Now though I am singing "I'm easy like Sunday morning" in my head. Showing my age by knowing that song, no doubt.
Crystal CollierDecember 2, 2015 at 9:06 AM
I hear you about catching up. Whew! Yeah...I've been a slacker lately. It's hard when you don't have set hours. Guess that's why some authors rent office space and go during set hours to work. But not me. That sounds WAY too pricey.
Sheena-kay GrahamDecember 2, 2015 at 10:13 AM
Damn it Elizabeth! You go on break just as I come back? But hey girl and I have worse than easy. Having to tell people that your no is valid because writing is work. I can say no. It is the arguing I get into with 'certain' individuals that annoy me because they don't think what I do is work. Bright and facety like say me get money off cloud or something. LOL. You are just a kind person Liz and I like helping people too. Just at my own pace without any fresh behaviour.
Sandra HooverDecember 2, 2015 at 10:14 AM
Great post, Elizabeth! I struggle with the "too easy" part almost daily, allowing any & all interruptions to interrupt my work time. For me, the key is to treat it like a "job" because that's what it is - my job. Yes, it's my passion, my love, my joy to write, but family & friends need to think of it as me going to work. We're not quite there yet! lol But we're working on it.
Chemist KenDecember 2, 2015 at 2:07 PM
There's no way that writing is easier than a day job. So I don't feel guilty at all about writing. Except when I steal time away from my family, that is. :)
RobinDecember 2, 2015 at 2:22 PM
Writing is hard work. Creating something out of nothing is hard. Frankly, it's easier to do just about anything else...
Loni TownsendDecember 2, 2015 at 5:02 PM
Nobody asks me to do stuff anymore because I always respond with, "well, I'm going to have to see if I can get someone to watch the kids first" or "Is the place kid friendly?" I think I'd feel more guilty if I didn't have them.
M PaxDecember 2, 2015 at 5:03 PM
lol It is fun, but hard work. I'm not so easy I guess, since I'm usually at the keyboard. Not always working, though. :)
Dixie@dcreliefDecember 2, 2015 at 5:11 PM
In the end all I could do was stare at the screen and laugh. You are a charmer!
dolorahDecember 2, 2015 at 5:42 PM
I know the feeling. Sometimes, I look forward to those "easy yes" suggestions to break up my day, but I love hanging out with my weird fictional buddies all day.
JoDecember 2, 2015 at 6:26 PM
Yes, I think you are too easy Liz. You seem to get stuck with all the sh*t jobs. Where would we be without writers? I couldn't live without them.
AnonymousDecember 2, 2015 at 10:00 PM
I love all your posts, and ditto to everything you said! Enjoy your break this week :-)
klahanieDecember 2, 2015 at 10:24 PM
Hi human, Elizabeth,

What a pawesome pawst. Not a bad effort for a human! :) "We're just drinking coffee and making crap up." Aha, that sounds like my alleged human, Gary. He drinks so much coffee that his eyebrows are now stuck to the top of his forehead!

Pawsitive wishes and doggy kisses,

Penny xx
Misha GerrickDecember 3, 2015 at 11:08 AM
People do that with me too, but then, even my day-job works from home, so people somehow think that I'm just sitting around doing nothing.

I'm reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally good at saying no, though.
LisaDecember 3, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Oh yes!!! House work going on all around me, actually in my office right now (love that smell of paint, haha), and boy is it playing you know what with my writing. One of my fav sayings is "Life is What Happens When You're Busy Planning Something Else." And I think writers are tested on that every day, unless they make enough to be THE breadwinner!!!
MelissaDecember 3, 2015 at 3:09 PM
That is so true!

( Next time someone says, "It would be so nice if..."
You answer, "Yes, it would." :D)
cheerfuloptimisticDecember 3, 2015 at 4:13 PM
Anyone who says writing isn't work has not done it. Enjoy your break.
Stephanie FarisDecember 4, 2015 at 3:53 PM
Preach it, girl! I'm a full-time freelance writer in addition to my fiction and I can set my own hours. People do think that I can just do whatever I want. But I do have deadlines and clients who get upset if things aren't done in time, so I try to make it clear to people that while I can work whichever 8 hours in a day I want, it has to be eight hours at some point. So if I take the morning off to help you out with something, that means I'll be working from noon until bedtime, probably, breaking only for dinner.
Tonja DreckerDecember 4, 2015 at 8:25 PM
Yes, yes yes! If it was less flexible, I'd probably get tons more writing done. When I sit and type too long, I start feeling guilty and wonder if I shouldn't rather be doing something 'productive' (house cleaning, firewood, painting...) We're our worst enemy...that and too much flexibility.
AnonymousDecember 5, 2015 at 3:33 PM
Oh, that's so true. It's amazing how that kind of guilt can make me let other things take precedence. I wish I could find a way to set those hours and not feel guilty about it. One of these days....
New Release BooksDecember 9, 2015 at 3:14 PM
I liked this post. Amazingly true, what you said!