People who don’t write often wonder how writers function. “The Writer” becomes a sort of mysterious persona, someone gifted with the right words at the right time. A scatterbrained, intellectual individual squirreled away in a quiet cabin in the woods or a seaside house, fueled only on coffee and smokes, clacking away at the computer to write the one and only draft of the next American novel.
Well. hahaha…I hate to burst the bubble, but this isn’t necessarily true:
Scatterbrained–most likely (well, at least I am, haha).
Intellectual–many of us are, but not everyone (oooooh!).
Quiet cabin/seaside house–God, I wish. At this point, I’d kill for a full weekend of nothing but writing time, but real life constantly gets in the way.
Fueled on coffee and smokes–I don’t like either…I prefer tea and chocolate. 
One draft–I laugh heartily. I usually write a rough draft, then go back and add in all that important layering, then do two drafts of revisions before handing in a manuscript. And that’s just MY side of things–once the editor gets a hold of it, there’s no holds barred. haha
Just like individuals, all writers are different, with different processes, personalities, and quirks. I’m sure there are some people who are just like “The Writer” persona–as for me, I’ll stick to my tea and ten minutes of quiet writing time before the kids start hounding me. haha
What about you–any misperceptions you encounter about your job that you’d like to correct? Share with us!
You can find more details about me at http://www.sophieathens.com and more about my novella The Vampire Oracle: Hunger at http://www.cobblestone-press.com/cat…pireoracle.htm.
