I talk to other writers a lot. Probably two or even three hours a day. I talk to aspiring writers and I talk to seasoned professionals. I even talk to agents and editors on a regular basis. I truly enjoy most of the time I spend interacting with other people in my field of work (I write for a living), but there are weeks when I probably should have just ignored everyone and focused on my writing.
Why? Because this week I encountered no less then six people, aspiring writers all, who simply cannot take advice. It's really maddening. And I'm not talking about these people taking my advice. I'm talking about them not taking ANY advice, not from anyone. Not from an agent who replied that the work was just too long or the editor who stated that the conversation was just too trite. These aspiring writers simply refused to acknowledge that their writing was anything less than perfect. And these are people who hope to be published!
I'm not saying you have to change your story over every little bit of advice you get, but you have to be open to feedback. As a writer, or an aspiring writer, you have to keep an open mind and understand that advice can often improve your story, hone your skills, and increase the chance of your work making it past the slush pile. The advice of critics can and will make you a better writer, but only if you're willing to hear it.
If someone with experience gives you advice, you should seriously consider it. A publisher, editor, or agent is usually an expert in the field. Others writers who have been published have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. If someone you trust tells you something is just not working within the story, do yourself a favor and really look at ways of improving your book.
And, if you absolutely refuse to accept any advice whatsoever, don't whine when you keep getting those rejections slips. Instead, frame then as a testament to your stubbornness. Harsh? Maybe, but none of us are perfect. I've never written a book that hasn't changed between the first draft and the last, and I'm pretty sure other authors haven't either.
I hear it all the time. "I'd love to write, but I'm too busy." "I've been waiting for inspiration." "I've got kids." Well, guess what? Writers write. I've had this conversation at least three times this week, once in person and twice over the Internet. And hearing all these excuses (and many more) is starting to grate on my nerves. If you want to write, sit down and do it. Stop telling me why you can't and get to work.
Sound harsh? Well, so far this year I've produced (under various pseudonyms) a 100,000-word novel, 2 collections of short stories totalling 60,000 words, a non-fiction book of 55,000 words and two work books that go with that non-fiction book. That's a total of 265,000 words published so far this year. That isn't counting my 10 blogs, each of which gets a weekly posting of sometimes 1000 words or more, and all the work that hasn't gone off to the editor yet, including another 100,000-word novel. I've written well over 1 million words this year, and the year isn't over yet.
And I did this while raising 2 kids, only one of whom is in school (the younger one is still only 4 years old). Not only that, but I had major surgery to remove a tumor from my abdomen in February and I'm struggling toward my PhD in English. Just this week alone I've had to deal with lawyers and sick children, and I still produced 20,000 words.
I'm not bragging here and I certainly don't think every writer needs to write 20,000 words in a week. Many (most) writers need to hold a full-time job while taking care of a family. Writing is my full-time job, so I can write for hours a day. In fact, I have to write for hours a day to make a living. But anyone can write 1000 words a week. That's barely more than 100 words a day. Excuses will get you nowhere.
So what am I asking aspiring writers to do? Stop making excuses. Either start writing or admit that you're not going to start writing and move on. But don't whine and complain about how you don't have time or you can't think of anything to write about. No one has time. Everyone runs into writer's block. Everyone has things that happen in their lives, sometime major things like serious illness or a death in the family. But you either write or you don't.
Let's take the excuses out of writing and get back to the task at hand. Let's get back to our passion, to writing.
When writing, especially when writing novels or other works that demand a significant amount of time, it's easy to fall prey to vanity. It's easy to think about publication, and how to alter and change your story until it's what you think of as "publishable." It happens to everyone, even seasoned authors who've published forty books and are working on number forty-one. You might think that worrying about producing a "publishable" book should be an author's first concern, but you'd be wrong.
It happens to me sometimes. In fact, it happened this week. I was working on the first draft of a novel that as yet has no title, and I started approaching it all wrong. I started thinking about what my agent would want, what the editor might change, and how the publisher might market the book. Instead of writing a first draft, I was working on what would probably be the third. And I was skipping the most crucial steps, so I began to lose the core of the story I was trying to tell. Not good.
When you're at the beginning of your journey, when you're just starting to write that book, you absolutely shouldn't be focused on getting published. Until you have a workable product, there's no point in worrying about what you'll eventually do with it. So forget about being published. Dismiss the vanity that comes with imaging yourself as a bestselling author. Put all that aside.
I had to. I managed to. After two days of playing agent/editor/publisher, I remembered that I am a writer. My job is to use the power of the written word to weave a tale that's consistent, well written, and has a solid theme and premise. And I have to focus on that job until it's done. First draft, here I come.
Leave your vanity at the door when you first start working on that novel. Don't think about the world or how your neighbor might react to your words. Write a powerful story, regardless of genre, without any concern for how it might eventually be received. There's time for polishing and primping later. Pretend that no one but you will see the story. You'll stick it in a drawer somewhere and eventually, after you're dead and buried, one of your great-grandchildren might find it. Craft the story you need to tell. Later, hopefully with the aid of a skilled editor, it can be turned into something that may eventually sell to the general public. But now is not the time for that.
Once I'd remembered this, my fingers flew over the keyboard. My first draft is coming along nicely, my characters are developing (when they're not stopping in at the local pub for a beer), and the plot is shaping up. Of course, I had to delete the first two days' worth of work, but that's okay. The 'delete' key is there for a reason.
