Welcome back everyone to Life Incoming.
I mentioned in the previous post about writing a book and I thought I could share some insight to the very few things I learned over that process about the industry and maybe help someone else out.
At the time of this post I have written two books. One a fantasy driven and another a romance, completely a foreign field for me — unless you count the numerous movies my mother watched as a child.
The first ‘The Scholar’ is the one I reference in the last post, I had grand ideas for ‘The Scholar’ and to say that it was a mess would be like stating the Titanic wasn’t that big of a deal.
The Scholar:
What failed in this was my inability to stick to a plan and I’m not saying that you have to write every bit of dialog down, every twitch of a muscle that a character has within the story, but now looking back I can say that you should at least keep notes and a rough outline. I say rough because I think the characters in a book should mirror real life and not be scripted, that it makes it seem like you’re watching a third grader trying to remember his line in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. However by not keeping notes or general outline of characters or story. When I walked away from it (sometimes month at a time) when I would lose the muse to write or when I convinced myself that I would write tomorrow. It become this impossible mountain that I would have to climb just to write another few lines.
Now as I said it was a mess, but it was a complete mess. A beginning, middle, and end. Proven fact that if I actually sat down and wrote I could write a book, and I took that little victory. The little victories are what count in this. I was so proud that I completed it that I sent it off to several agents in hopes that I would be met with some miracle, which never happened.
Things I learned:
As I stated before outline. Characters, chapters, and the world.
Don’t only write when you are inspired. Place your butt in the chair and write, no matter how grueling, heart wrenching quality you produce you need to do this. It moves it forward.
When you are done, have some people read it. Get their opinion, on parts that worked and those that failed.
Let it sit. Get your mind clear, don’t go editing right away. Just get refreshed and come at from a new point.
Industry:
I can’t say that I had much look in the industry, a handful of rejection emails and a crushed spirit is what I came back with. Neither are fun, but I did research. I looked at every tidbit of information that I could find, to make sure if by some miracle an agent actually asked me for a full manuscript I could at least pretend to know what I was talking about. So if you just finished a book, or on the verge of it, be sure to research. Know that no agent or publisher should ask for money upfront just to read your manuscript.
Self-publish scared me. It brought on this uncertainty that I had to manage my entire book release and for someone that took nearly two years to write one, that was like asking me to climb a mountain (Which I already did every time I wanted to write). Now it doesn’t frighten me as much, and that is because of my second book.
Second Book:
My second book I have yet to confirm a name for it. It’s a romance, and boy that was a whole different can of worms. I can’t say that I hated any part of the book, I loved the characters, the world, and the town I had crafted for it. I sat down and wrote that book, and I enjoyed it. I made little to no excuses on writing and when I didn’t want to write, I sat there, listening to music and drumming along my keyboard with as much effort as a child learning to type for the first time. Breaking all form to typing and pecking one letter at a time, until my scheduled time was done.
However with this one I found purpose in my drafting, I knew roughly what was going to happen next and if I didn’t like it because the previous scene did not match I changed it to flow better. What took my two years in the first one, took my four months. Now it’s sitting, a handful of people are reading it (despite my pestering) and its waiting to be edited.
What about you? Do you have a project that you have been working on? Is it almost done? What’s your thoughts on how far you’ve come? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.
If any of you are interested. ‘The Scholar’ is posted through Wattpad, completely free. Just follow the link.
Life Incoming 