I know full well I could be done with my sequel (started in November during NaNoWriMo), but I've been lazy. I've put it off. I fell out of my routine and didn't get back in.
Bad, Alissa! Bad.
If there was anything that I learned whilst abroad, as well as during NaNoWriMo, excuses and complacently can be the death of writing. Giving yourself the excuse that you aren't feeling it that day, or that you are too busy, or that you have writers block (possibly the biggest enabling excuse ever). Whatever it is, that's what stands between you and being an actual writer. Writer's write. Every day. It doesn't matter if it sounds horrible, or if you think it is crap. Not even if you scrap something and have to start from scratch. If you want to write you have to do it every day. This is how you grow, this is how you get better. You can have the grandest and greatest ideas, but until you write them down they are worthless to you. There is a really simple quote I love about writing that I have pinned up in front of my desk at work, "1) Write 50 words. That's a paragraph. 2) Write 400 words. That's a page. 3) Write 300 pages. That's a manuscript. 4) Write every day. That's a habit. 5) Edit and rewrite. That's how you get better. 6) Spread your writing for people to comment. That's called feedback. 7) Don't worry about rejection or publication. That's a writer. 8) When not writing, read. Read from writers better than you. Read and perceive," (Ajay Ohri). These steps seem imbicilicly easy to say and infinity harder to do. But the thing is, no one said writing would be easy. Writing is horribly hard. Every day is a struggle. It is a struggle when battling against the cynicism of other people (You mean you actually think you can publish a book? You majored in English? That must mean you're going to be a teacher, right?). It is a struggle to keep going getting rejection after rejection. And biggest of them all, it is an all out war inside yourself to keep going and prove all the naysayers wrong, including yourself.
There are a lot of
What does one do when they fall off the horse? Either never ride again or get back up there and go. Running isn't an option. Go it is.
I've been pulling books for my research as I near the finish line of the story. My plan is to research rigorously and apply the knowledge to flesh out the story in places that I was unwilling to slow down for whilst writing. Mostly I've concentrated on plot, character, story direction, and dialogue. I have yet to know whether this approach will work. So far in my writing, everything either involved things I've made up myself or things I am familiar with and understand. Sailing and ship life is not one of those things. *Spoilers* this sequel takes place a majority of the time on ships. Therefore it would probably be good to know what the heck I'm talking about!
As the books I've gathered for the research come in I can feel the excitement building in me. It isn't there in force, but the echo of the feeling I felt before while in full writing mode is there. I could reach out and grasp it. When I held those books, making plans on the research and knowledge I would gain and that would help me with my story, I realized I was smiling like an idiot and could even feel pin pricks of emotion stinging my eyes. How could I have let myself forget what it felt like? The excitement? The anticipation? The drive? It is so easy to fall into the slump. You convince yourself that it will feel better to just watch a show or scroll for hours through tumblr instead of write. It's easier, lulling. Soon you aren't writing every day, and then only a few times a week, sometimes less. Pretty soon you've lost touch with your story and you wonder what happened. This may not be what happens for everyone, but it is definitely something that I've fallen prey to.
Thankfully, as the sun shines forth and warmth has begun to filter through the air, I've found some strength to pull my head out of the dirt and take a look around. It is well passed the time I get back on the ball.
I have many new goals, including doing a little research every day and getting back into writing as a daily commitment. The biggest goal is to finish. I plan to have this novel wrapped up, with a 'The End' and everything, before I go on my trip to England in May. It sounds lofty considering the first of the series took me four years to complete, but I don't think it's impossible. I also hadn't yet realized my potential as a writer or the drive to make it a reality when I was writing the first one. I didn't even really think I would ever write that novel until I was finishing it and looking over it all just thinking, 'Hey look I made a thing....I think...'. If this book is finished in May then it will have taken me about 7 months to write it, and I don't think that's too shabby. And once finished...it's on to editing!!! (aka ripping to shreds and then sewing back together what I just worked so hard to finish). I'll also be doing a final edit of the first book. Looks like my summer plans are all made and ready for me... As well as editing I'm going to start sending out query letters to agencies and perhaps publishing companies. If I can get representation then there is one major writing hump out of the way. From what I've gathered through research and observation, if you want to get your novel published, the first thing you need to do is get an agent.
On a related note, gee wouldn't it have been nice if my school's writing program taught me about agencies, their importance in the industry, and how to get my own solicitation... Because that isn't important information at all to know. It's only integral if you want to get published... Then again, I'm talking about my University writing program that actively snubs all genre fiction and leads a program taught to primarily produce literary fiction, never mind that literary fiction is one the hardest venues of writing to get published in while working an already difficult industry. I somehow don't feel at all surprised that in all my workshop classes and writing instruction there wasn't one lesson on getting an agent or writing a query letter. The very closest we got was a section in my fiction workshop dedicated to submitting short literary fiction stories and poems to lit mags and contests. In that case we were thoroughly educated, though all the good it did you if you wanted to publish a novel. Thank God for the internet and authors willing to give tips to emerging writers. I many times feel that publishing can almost feel like a secret industry that you have to self-instruct your way into. However it is always nice when those who have actually made it leave the ladder down behind them.
So, prognoses of sweeping out the cobwebs in my frontal and temporal lobes? I have a lot of lists to make, a ton of research to do, some consistent writing to keep up with, a butt load of editing, and a fair amount of bucking up to do within myself. I know this is a lot of talking about my personal life, but it is my blog about my writing, so I figure everyone can just ignore this if they want. Or they can satisfy their insatiable need to stalk other peoples lives and get their fill. Whatever you like.
To all those writers out there in similar situations, keep soldiering on! Don't give up! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, especially if the person saying it is yourself. I sometimes feel like so many people believe being a writer is an impossible dream simply because so many give up before they get there. You'll never know unless you try. It could be the 50th query that gets the publication, but you'll never know if you give up after the 49th rejection. Think of it this way, go into a bookstore or a library and look at all the books. Every one of them represents an author that had to start out just like you. If there is that many who made it, then you have to know it isn't an impossible thing if you just keep trying. And even if you don't get published, it isn't the end of the world. Let's remember how many famous authors who weren't published or recognized until after their death. I'm not saying that every one of us is an Emily Dickinson, but if you write a book or a collection of stories, or a bunch of poems, at least you know what you're leaving behind. Published or not you will leave a mark on the world, one that lasts past the mortal confines, and proof that you lived your own dream no matter what anyone else has to say about it. Really that's what it's all about: telling a story and trying to share it with the world. It's why we write, because we have something to say. So write on my friends, and live your dreams. Or don't. I'm not published so you still reserve the right to say I'm full of crap.
Fin for now
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