Hello All,
--x--
I’ve
identified 10 lessons I’ve learned along the way. Maybe you already
know these things. Maybe you don’t. I’m gonna share ‘em
anyway...
1.
Something’s gotta give.
Writing
is not something you can do with just a little bit of effort. To get
through the first draft, editing, what-have-you, you'll have to work
hard! Yes, you could space it out over several years, but if you want
to finish anytime this year, you’re going to have to make
sacrifices. For me, this was less time with friends and family, less
television, and less attention to my health (eating right and
exercising). Oops.
2.
Write what you want to write—not what you think you should be
writing.
Boy,
this was a hard one to learn. I’ve always fallen back on being
“that smart girl.” When things didn’t go right in my personal
life or when I was picked last in gym class, I took pride in my
intellect. Therefore, I’ve always done what I can to improve my wit
and make my best trait the best it can be. That being said, I spent a
long time forcing myself to read classic literature. I did enjoy it,
and I still do, but it’s definitely not what I find most
entertaining (YA is). Still I kept at the classic literature because
it was important to me that others respect my intelligence (damaged
by high school much? :-P).
Naturally
when I decided to write a novel, it came out as literary fiction.
That’s the me I wanted to portray to the world. I wanted people to
salivate over my talent and proclaim my literary merit... Except the
novel wasn’t that good, because it wasn’t a piece of who I really
am. Now that I’ve cozied into YA, I couldn’t be happier. And the
larger facade of who I once pretended to be has lifted. I. AM. FREE.
Now this lesson doesn’t just mean: don’t
put on a false front.
It also means: don’t
chase trends.
Write what your heart wants to write, and it’ll all be good in the
end.
3.
You’re going to make mistakes. LOTS of mistakes.
Practice
makes perfect. Well, it makes it better than before. You may be an
excellent writer, but if you’ve never written a novel before,
you’re a newbie. That’s okay too! When writing that all-important
first novel, you’re pretty much going to make every mistake in the
book. In my first novel, I really struggled with keeping a consistent
point-of-view and writing authentic dialogue. The POV problem was
very difficult to fix, but in trying, I learned an important
lesson—one I couldn’t have learned if I hadn’t made such huge
blunders. Now that I do know how to correct and avoid these problems,
dialogue and POV are two of my strongest areas (at least that’s
what readers tell me).
4.
Writer’s detour is a bigger problem than writer’s block.
Writer’s
block gets all the PR, but it’s not as dangerous as writer’s
detour. When you’re blocked you’re not moving forward. When you
take a detour, you’re moving in the wrong direction. Will you get
to California quicker by taking a small rest in Boise, or will you
get there quicker by following a pretty red car to Ontario first? (My
advice, drive straight-on through to Cali if you can). Don’t get so
caught up with a minor character (or a theme you want to convey) that
you stray all over the place. Which brings me to my next point...
5.
Structure is important.
We
writers fall into two camps: pantsers and plotters. Some pantsers
consider themselves superior, because their writing leads their
plots—not the other way around. I used to think like that too. Even
if you want to keep your plotline fluid, you need some form of
structure. Shudder at the thought of outlining? Then mapping your
characters is crucial. You need to know where you’re going and/or
who's taking you there. Otherwise you’re just groping about in the
dark. Yes, writing is absolutely a creative process, but don’t
under-estimate the value of good planning.
6.
Novel #1 may never leave the drawer.
Or
it may leave the drawer, journey around the query circuit, and then
come right back to where it started. My first novel DID get me an
agent, but 9 drafts later, it still wasn’t good enough to publish.
When my agent suggested I change 2/3 of it for draft 10, I decided to
move onto my next project. I just wasn’t enjoying the process
anymore. I’m so glad I finally called it quits on novel #1, because
novel #2 is so much better, and now I get to put it out there into
the world. If I would’ve kept agonizing over the inferior
manuscript, novel #2 may have never happened!
7.
When you’re done, you’re not done.
I’m
just a big ball of sunshine today, aren’t I? But it’s important
to understand just how much work follows being “done.” Anne
Lamott said it best in Bird
by Bird,
you’re going to write “shitty first drafts.” I can guarantee
it! Don’t let that stop you, just be prepared for it.
8.
Writing is a business just as much as it’s an art.
Getting
a novel published and promoting it once it’s out there is
infinitely more work than writing a novel in the first place. That’s
not to under-value the writing process, but it’s true. Sure, you
can finish your novel, self-publish it, and then do virtually nothing
to promote it. Fine.
But
if you actually want to sell copies of your book, you’ve gotta
handle the business side of things. Finding an agent is an extremely
formal business interaction—you even have to write fancy business
(AKA query) letters. Marketing your book is a TON of work. It’s
pretty fun (at least, I think so, but I moonlight as a book
publicist, so I realize I might not be normal). However, being fun is
not equivalent to being easy. Not even close. Expect lots of work and
lots of stress and not very much sleep. The good news: you get out
what you put in, so give it all you can!
9.
Querying will destroy your soul.
My
unhappy place is remembering query letter Hell. I honestly can’t
remember anything harder in my life. Ever. Make sure you have a good
support system in place. Because even if you’re brilliant, you can
pretty much expect a slew of rejections. I ultimately got an agent
but had to suffer through 60 “not for us”s first. Of course, it
hurts. As writers, we pour our hearts and souls into our manuscript.
Our words are a part of who we are. Having a faceless stranger tell
you it’s not good enough is pure torture. End of argument.
10.
You will sustain injuries.
Gosh,
my neck is killing me while I’m writing this post. You’re
probably going to get neck and back pain too. Headaches from staring
at the computer too long. Possible eye problems. Definite poor
posture. Maybe even carpal tunnel syndrome. That’s just the way it
goes, so be prepared.
--x--
Wishing her all success,
Abhishek Boinapalli
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