The Drudgery

I was worried that the writing would be hard, that I wouldn’t be inspired, that I’d run out of imagination.

In fact, none of that happened, my characters spoke to me as I was told they would, my imagination was spurred, and things flowed.

But now the writing is. Outlying done and I am discovering the whole other half of this process: selling.

There is the research to find appropriate agents and publishers. The courses to discover how to write a good query letter, or elevator pitch. For the queries, you have to write a full synopsis, and often a marketing plan. And often you have to reformat your novel to suit the various agents.

While you do that, you’re running your book through your writing group and/or your test readers, incorporating their suggestions, and wondering if your novel is really any good at all.

I now get why there are so many short story competitions out there. Aside from it being it’s own art form, writers need that kick of writing and submitting something to keep them going while they sell their longer works.

But hey ho, this is the biz, and persistence is a must. I just have to keep believing in that euphoria I will feel when I have a published book in my nail-bitten little hands!

The Snob Imposter

 I have become a murder mystery snob.

After years of being a librarian, every time someone asked a question I would immediately start thinking about how I would go about finding the answer.

After years of being a knowledge manager, after every story of a project ending I would think "What went wrong? What went right? How would we do it better next time?". You can't help it, it's what you do.

And now, after spending almost a year slaving over the manuscript of my cozy mystery as well as desperately searching for the mots juste in my new short stories, I cannot read anything without thinking "That's not how *I* would have done it...". Whether it's too-obvious clues, badly structured plot lines, or just a clunky or repetitive sentence, apparently my ego  has decided that I am now an expert in all things written. And all this without being published!

This is the obviously the downside to spending a lot of time doing something. And yet, with the all the online seminars on writing that I've taken, all the conventions attended, all the writing group meetings and articles read, I am still less certain that I have what it takes to be a successful writer than I was when I started.

Imposter syndrome runs strong in most of us. All I can do is keep writing, keep submitting, and hope that persistence will pay off in the end.

And, of course, I remind myself that even if it turns out I'm not meant to be a writer, I've still got it pretty darned good.

But seriously, some of these published writers...  ;)

A Lesson from Alan Rickman

I’ve been reading Madly Deeply, the highly entertaining diaries of the late Alan Rickman, who was one of my favourite actors.

Aside from the fact that he seems to have rarely met a director he liked, what is noticeable is how often he and his friends attended plays or watched films together. We’re talking at least 2-3 times a week. And he details his impressions of these performances including reviews of individual actors all the way to the suitability of the lighting and music (he appears to have highly respected the professionalism of those who work behind the scenes).

This is a man studying his craft not only through his own work experience but by constantly reflecting on how others do it.

As a knowledge manager, I was constantly reading about and networking with other knowledge managers, so I understand where he was coming from.

So when I became a writer, I was overjoyed to realise that, far from the job keeping me too busy to read, it actually required me to read.

And I love to read. I don’t know how you could be a writer and not be an avid reader.

I was worried when I quit my last job to start writing, I wouldn’t be able to fill my day. I knew I wasn’t going to have the stamina to write for eight hours a day. And you can only do so much housework. But I find myself in the wonderful position of rising each workday, doing a few domestic tasks, and then spending the rest of my morning reading about other writers, the writing and publishing process, or just reading murder mysteries before I begin my writing afternoons. 

It’s the best kind of homework.