Ten reasons why writing is a great job

1. When crap happens to you, you make notes about it and think, "Hey, that'll come in handy for chapter ten..." and it makes Things All Better.

2. No useless fact is ever wasted. (You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many useless facts.)

3. Your eccentric behaviour is regarded as a sign of creative literary genius: anyone else is just as mad as a box of frogs.

4. You can ask experts in any field for research information and they give it generously. (So be grateful for it.)

5. You can have meal breaks when you want them.

6. You see life at an intense level of detail that others usually don't. (Thanks to Sean Stewart for making this point at Clarion.)

7. Staring at a blank wall is actually useful work.

8. You can create any world you want. Your only limit is yourself.

9. It's free therapy, but you get paid for it too.

10. You never have to envy anyone else's job, ever.

© Karen Traviss 2006