{"id":16118,"date":"2024-02-11T21:55:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T04:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=16118"},"modified":"2024-02-12T07:24:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T14:24:34","slug":"who-gets-to-decide-openbook-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=16118","title":{"rendered":"Who Gets To Decide? #OpenBook Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Feb 12, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you ever ask yourself if you are still a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most people who stumble across me on social media have no idea who I am.<\/h3>\n

My writing has broken no records and hasn’t made any big-name best-seller lists. Somedays, I feel like the only person who cares about my stories is me. Days when I wonder why I even bother to put words on ‘paper.’ This fall, I was ‘ghosted’ at a book signing event and didn’t sell a single book. I haven’t written anything besides my blog posts for the last two months for a variety of reasons, including the death of my mother and some harsh criticism I received for the first chapter of my WIP.<\/p>\n

Am I still a writer?<\/p>\n

Based on my recent on-line book sales, the answer is yes. According to the new story churning in my brain, my characters hope so. I’m not convinced.<\/p>\n

But blogging is writing, correct? It’s committing words to ‘paper’.<\/p>\n

Truth is, I’ve been avoiding writing. It isn’t writer’s block, it’s me finding other things to do. Shoot, I’ve been doing housework instead of sitting in front of my computer\u2014and I hate doing housework. It’s weird. In the past, it was the opposite. I couldn’t be pried away from my stories to take care of other duties.<\/p>\n

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Am I still a writer? Who gets to decide?<\/h3>\n

Me. Only I get to make that decision. No one can tell me I’m not a writer. So, I herby declare that I’m a writer on a semi-break. I will get back to my stories. My fingers are itching to get back to the keyboard. I put too much effort into my WIP to abandon it now. After I do my taxes. And clean out a box I stashed in the cupboard two years ago and haven’t looked at since. It holds all the printed out critiques for many of my books.<\/p>\n

How about out other authors? Do they ever question their status as a writer? Let’s find out of they share by following the links below.<\/p>\n

As always, until next time, please stay safe.<\/p>\n

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You are invited to the Inlinkz<\/strong> link party!<\/p>\r\nClick here to enter<\/a><\/div><\/div>\r\n