Author Janis Lane on Joys of Writing

 Janis, I love the cover of your new book, Gone to the Dogs. I am a dog person, too, so I am drawn to your story before I even know about you. We'll get to that love of dogs in a later post this week. First, tell me what do you love about writing?

Thanks so much for having me here today, Lynn. Your blog posts are always so interesting.

When I finally sat myself down in front of a computer and wrote a story, I had no idea the acute pleasure I would find in getting my thoughts organized and plotted into a recognizable story line.

So your first book was a pleasant surprise?

Who knew it would be so much fun. The sheer joy of writing came as a surprise to me although I have written off and on all my life. To plot a story,  to create characters to act upon your very own stage, to complete a novel—the feelings I had when I wrote The End for the first time were astounding to me. I won’t equate it to childbirth, but there is a wonderful high to be experienced from the creation of a whole thing. I’m talking about the initial first draft. We all know what comes next and it isn’t so much fun.

Ah, yes,  Edit, edit, edit.

Don’t you wish you hadn’t written so very much description? Did I really use the ly words so many times? How we cringe when a critique partner does the initial read.

None of the actual work portion of writing can dull the exhilaration of knowing you are now a legitimate author. You have written a book. It may not be the best seller of the day, but it is all yours. A young girl asked me what does a writer do. The answer is so simple. I answered, “A writer writes.”  

Go to Janis' author page at http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/JanisLane/Page.bok to learn more.