How Obsessed Are You With Writing?

If Writers Want to Finish Their Books, They Must Answer This Question

I can only describe my relationship with writing as being obsessed with every aspect of literature and writing. The longer I write the less I feel I know, so I wake up every day and look for new information, a new way to think of plotting or a different way to describe the first kiss between hero and heroine. A new theory. A new book on writing.

This also extends to the business of writing. I want to know what is happening in the publishing world and what houses are buying. What is Amazon doing now? What will they do next? How does it affect writers?

After I sold five books and published one on my own, I went back to college to get an M.F.A in creative fiction. Why? Even some of my professors asked me that question. Two reasons, the first one was practical, I wanted to teach. I’d been a guest speaker at dozens of universities, spoked at writer’s organizations and conferences, at Latino organizations and for businesswomen groups, and I decided I wanted to do more of that in a permanent or on a consistent basis. To teach at a university, I needed an advanced degree.

The second reason was because I knew I had more to learn. I’d self-taught myself to write by reading novels and books on writing…