All creative professions can come with a variety of struggles. Published Author Vibha Batra shares the good, the bad and the ugly of writing as a profession.

The Good

You can live in your head all the time:Think, staring blankly at a computer screen for inordinately long amounts of time. Also, it makes for a great excuse to skip gym sessions, wiggle out of social commitments, and occasionally, get by the entire day without showing any signs of life.

You get to live other lives:Do you perceive yourself to be not cool/hot/spunky/popular enough? No worries. You can live vicariously through your characters.

That said, you must always remember that you are great, and it’s cool to be not cool too. If you love yourself (not in a narcissistic way) it will reflect in your work too

You get to see your labour of love on bookshelves, and in some cases, on the big screen: I feel like an eager enthu excited newbie, each time I have a book out. It never gets old. The other thing? Bollywood hasn’t come calling yet. But hey, you never know.

Age is just a number, baby:You can start writing when you’re, say, a particularly precocious two-year-old, and you need never stop. Its a great profession for all ages and can be done from anywhere

The Bad

You have to constantly motivate yourself and keep at it:
This is pretty self-explanatory, I think.

You need to sell your books (online, offline, 360-degree blitzkrieg): Writing–once you get that hypnotic, addictive, demanding lover called social media out of the way–is easy peasy. (Yeah, so I’m one of those guys, you know the crazy type, who likes to romanticise the whole process). But, marketing? Hoo boy! That’s the real toughie.

You need to develop a thick skin: I’m an advertising consultant, and I write (and face rejection) every single day. Sometimes even on Sundays. You’d think a rejected manuscript would be no big deal/water-off-a-duck’s back, right? Wrong.

You need to get used to people asking you that dreaded question, all the time: Any Good News? By which, they mean, when’s the next book due? This can be particularly distressing when you’re facing writer’s block or are slacking off (reading/binge watching random TV shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hotstar).

The Ugly

You need to brace yourself for the bad reviews: These can range from mildly dismissive, to sublimely scathing, to venomously vicious, to downright derogatory, to full-blown personal attacks. AND, you will stumble upon them on days you’re feeling really, really, really down. Told you, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

We understand writing can be hard and one can face a great deal of procrastination. Even if you finish writing; one can face rejections. Do share your stories with us and your coping mechanisms. If there are tricks you have learnt along your journey, we would love to share them here at The Post India. Simply write to hello@the-post.in