Everyone says writing is hard work.  Sometimes it is.  When it is deep and personal it can be.  Coming up with a topic can leave you feeling dry some days.  Editing is work.  Flat out, editing and revising are my least favorite parts of the job (my own stuff, that is.  I’m a pretty decent editor of others’ drafts).

I’ve heard analogies about opening veins and staring at the blank screen until your eyes cross.  Maybe I’m weird, but writing…the actual moving from head to paper or computer…the flow of it to the fingers…isn’t much work.  Give me a topic and I can write you pages.  If I have an idea for a novel, I’ll pre-write a notebook with ease, figuring out who the characters are and where the story might go.  I guess I’m weird.

Editing is work.  Coming up with a fresh view or a new topic can be work.  The essays and fiction?  Not work.  Maybe not exactly play, though they can be.  More like breathing.  It’s natural.