One more bit from novelist Ann Patchett's interview in the (London) Times Magazine. She mentions that writing is a very quiet, personal activity, and "that's why it requires such a change of pace for me to go out and meet my public. It's like I'm required to pull on a rubber head and become another person. 'Annpatchett' my husband Karl and I call her--all one word."
This is very similar to what I call the Alter Ego Strategy--that you have to decide which version of you is best suited to any given task, and assume that persona. As Ann Patchett points out, the Alter Ego that will do best at a reading or book signing isn't the same one that sat down alone to write the book.
I go into this more in one of the chapters of my new book, FOCUS, which comes out next May. I just did the final proofing of the manuscript and shipped it off to the publisher. Whew! I enjoyed writing it, but it was still a huge relief to get to the end because it had taken over my life for quite a while. Now it's time for a different Alter Ego...
