Being a writer is more than a job, it’s a way of life. It defines me. Someone said to me once it is not a real job. Er… yeah it very much is, we all need a way to pay the bills… but it is a privilege. I have said it here before and it’s true… I feel as if I created for myself the ideal job. I used to dream away the hours working for a big ‘corporate’ wishing for the kind of job I now have and the kind of life I now have. Sometimes, and not just when the New Year brings its shiny clean pages, it is good to look back as well as forward and see just how far you’ve come.
2024 marks ten years (later this year) of packing up my old life in Wales and moving to be closer to family. And it marks beginning my fitness journey joining my first gym. Now that’s a commitment I have never failed on. New Year often inspires people to take stock, get fit, eat healthy. We struggle to get into our regular classes because of this sudden swell in numbers… only we know deep down that by February most of the newcomers are gone. Cynical? Yeah but true sadly, along with most New Year resolutions. I am happy to report I do not make such resolutions at New Year, I make them any time of year I need to make a change and I DO STICK TO THEM. You?
So this ideal job of mine? Yeah, I truly love editing and mentoring and seeing the success in those around me, I might even be quite good at it now 😉 but writing will always be my first true love and every year I put my heart and soul into another novel which I finish by the end of the year and it finds its way to my lovely agent. Then every year feels like a waiting game. One full of really terrific near misses for which I am now the queen. But that hope, that desire, dare I say it, that hunger, never goes away. If it did, I would stop.
I am ready to manifest the next part, where I will still help people, sure, but one where I get to be just the writer. What do you think?
While that waits to happen and I plan the next novel I am opening up my mentoring programme again to writers of novels and short stories who need some guidance. It will begin when I have six people. Group sessions will depend on who we have and what help people need. If you’re interested in some hands-on help to get your masterpiece into shape to submit or self-publish, email me writer@debzhobbs-wyatt.co.uk and let’s step into 2024!