A friend of mine raised an interesting question today. Am I a nurse/author or an author/nurse?
I love being a nurse. Most of the time. I love helping people. Teaching. And the technical skills like drawing blood, dressing changes and sometimes saving lives.
I love being a writer. What's not to love. Most of the time.
I think if I could choose to do only one though, I'd choose writing. But, thankfully, I don't have to choose.
It's fun to have two careers--identities so far removed from the other. Kind of like Clark Kent by day, Superman by night. Balance.
If I wrote full time, I would be constantly inward focused. That can't be healthy. Judging by all the depressed writers out there, it's probably not.
Being a RN, I have to be outward focused from 8-5. That's my job. Caring for others.
Writers dream about giving up the day job, but it's the balance that day job provides that makes the writing so enjoyable.
Icecream sundays are wonderful but if you had to eat them 3 meals a day, every day. Well..you know.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Author Or Nurse?
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This is an interesting phenomenon. Sometimes I write better when I have a small amount of time to do it in. When I have a huge stretch of time devoted to writing it's so easy to procrastinate. But if I've been working all day, thinking about my characters and story, I can often write better in shorter amounts of time.
ReplyDeleteAnd you've got it great! I bet there are countless story ideas working as an RN. Have you ever thought about writing of someone like yourself? Or including details of your nursing knowledge in your story (or do you do that already?)
Thanks CJ. I do put quite a bit of medical type stuff in. It is VERY handy having insider info!
ReplyDeleteThough my current MS is a supernatural thriller, the next tenative one is a medical thriller. We'll see. I've got more ideas than time allows to put on paper. I know you know how that is.
How far are you into your second book? Gina
I am currently writing the 2nd draft of my second novel (though some of the chapters are in their 3rd draft). I'm excited about it. Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteCool. The rewriting is the real work!
ReplyDelete