I’m trying this crazy new approach to being sick. I’m staying home today. I can’t miss my night class for a variety of accelerated and snow day reasons, but I’ve decided to keep rinsing and repeating during the day. I feel better, except for the ears, which are coming along, and I plan to hit the road around 2 pm in order to get organized.
I’m communing with a lot of elder gods, which could explain the problems from before. No one is going to feel good with Cthullu in their head. After I finish with the internetting, I’ve got more communing ahead.
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I finished Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver. There are some beautiful bits in it, very descriptive and wonderful. I can see why it’s selling so very well. Teenage girls will swoon. There’s gratifying role reversal in the relationship. All that said, it’s not my book and I know it. I find myself more interested in Beck and his back story, because that’s the way my brain is wired. However, Maggie knows her audience, and I believe she delivers for them quite nicely. I had a good time as well, although I’ll be much more likely to re-read Ballad, which speaks to my writerly soul. Loudly.
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I want to link to a post I really liked yesterday about living: Chia Evers on Midlife Crisis.
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My current mindset is back to getting my writer shoulder to the grindstone. I have to admit, so much disease and bad weather makes it hard to be there. I need to focus on the work. I’ve had a lot of shiny bubbles, and they’re either floating out of my reach or they’ve popped, so I’m just back to writing the best work I can, and sending it out when it’s ready.
This brings me to something that’s been coming to mind during many commutes in the snow. It’s about writing, and I think it’s a mistake beginning writers make. I don’t know how we can avoid it, but we do it.
Don’t send out a book to an agent unless it’s had time to age. This idea is almost an entire reversal on my philosophies about writing in 2007.
I’m not an advocate of holding out until everyone you know has approved of your book. I think that means you’ll build a camel, not a racehorse. Unless, of course, you want to build a camel. I am an advocate of getting your name out there. That’s the only way to get there, getting those rejections. In the case of Patrick Rothfuss, who kept perfecting his book, there were plenty of rejections along the way.
Here’s the thing, though. As a baby writer, one is terribly fragile. Rejection even wears down those of us with thick skin, and we have to step back every once in a while. Drunk, with the heady feeling of having just finished that manuscript, we want to share it with the world. And sometimes, it’s just not ripe yet.
It’s hard work, trying to break into publishing. It’s hard work, writing the best work you can. I believe you should put your work down for the minimum of a month if you have that luxury. Pull it back out. Modify that book. Give your subconscious a chance to do its work. Give yourself a chance to get objective about what you have on the page so you can play with it and repair it. When you’re published, you’ll have an editor to help you with this. Right now, you need to develop that critical eye.
You can find a friend whose opinion you trust to look at your story or manuscript, just to make sure you’re right about your book’s brilliance. It’s hard to find a writing partner that gives good, constructive feedback and is on your wavelength, but you should keep auditioning until you find that person.
Don’t use your readers for validation. Don’t use your readers for only what needs fixing. Get someone who will give you a balanced and fair reading of your work. If you just want validation, there’s a wide world of fan fiction out there, waiting for you to embrace it.
Don’t think about trying to find an agent until you feel confident in your ability to write and be patient about your writing. Don’t think about the fantasy of writing lifestyle until you’re actually writing and evaluating your work like a writer does. That means writing every day. Sure, you don’t want to engage your inner editor too soon, but you do want to sort of get that dual brain vibe going on.
I know you want to share your work with the world. If you are thick skinned, I encourage you to get it out there, and take the suggestions you get to improve. If you aren’t, please take the time to develop some confidence in your abilities to stick to it, and edit it.
I wish someone had told me all this really, but honestly, I’m not sure I would have believed it, because I knew how good a writer I was, how special I was, and how the rules didn’t apply. I’m sure this sounds familiar, because I think most would-be writers have that fantasy. It might be more important to establish good writer hygiene first, sound work habits second, and then play with the publication thing.
And honestly, I suppose I should write a post about fantasy and creativity eventually. With the caveat that there is no one way to get what you want, I’m finding that some things seem to happen to writers more than others, and generalizations can be made.
Just remember, very few books, if any, are published in their original form. Most undergo SEVERAL revisions, and yours probably will need to as well. Try to give yourself a better shot by writing a better book.
I wish writing was glamorous. I also wish that I could achieve expertise without work and patience. Darned it!
Catherine
