Get Real
Nathan Bransford recently posted about encouraging or discouraging writers from writing. I notice that, I guess from where he sits, he fairly frequently brings up the idea of talent. Or the concept of quitting. Or giving up or whatever. Why? Because as you can imagine, just from his opening paragraph contest (WHICH TRAVIS WON!!!), Nathan B. sees a lot of dreck. And the shining ones (go Travis!) must feel like finding a rare gem. Nathan has also posted hypotheticals ("If you knew you would NEVER, EVER get published, would you keep writing . . ."), again . . . all about the elusiveness of good writing, or making it, etc. I feel like I see a theme of self-honesty run through his blog.
People, perhaps rightly, seem to be incensed by the idea of discouraging art of any sort. "Who are you . . . or anyone . . . to tell me to quit?" Or "How do you know that after another five years working at this, I won't succeed?" (I am sometimes amused by how angry people get over there since he poses a lot of hypotheticals and people don't respond on the basis of his hypothetical but instead on some tangent or another.)
So I guess for me it comes down to goals. Who do you want to share your book with? What channel do you want to use in order to share it? What are your goals? Because as Genius will often tell you, if you enter this game thinking it's a shortcut to the lottery . . . um . . . time for a reality check. Yet Genius has also shared that he (and I, and probably any published writer) do have those moments of "This one could hit big." It's part of the fun. But as a GOAL? It's too far out of your realm of control.
But then once you set your goal . . . how do you get there? And here, for the countless time, I think you have to break it into what you CAN do.
- Get real, honest feedback from as high a caliber writer as your pool of friends allows.
- Write. I would never say "write every day" because . . . that's not how I create. But write. A lot.
- Read. See what's out there. Broaden your horizons a bit.
- Get honest with yourself. Because bullet point number one is useless without it.
So what are your writing goals? And how are you going to get there? And on a scale of 1 to 10 . . . how honest do you think you are with yourself?
25 comments:
I am brutally honest with myself - traditional publishing of a novel (or *gasp* multiple novels) is a stretch, especially in this publishing climate -- but for me it's about trying and pushing myself to accomplish goals in baby steps; each one of equal value. That allows me to realize the progress, growth and success in the journey.
At the moment I'm having a hard time with honest because Hope keeps telling me, "this is it, this is the one." (As in get published not win the lottery) Ass won't stay in chair. Must be a phenomenal fear of success.
amy:
I think all goals have to be broken down into baby steps--otherwise it can seem too overwhelming.
E
Richmond:
Get thy butt into thy chair.
;-)
My goal is to see my books in print. Whether that is attainable or not almost isn't the point. I have to drive towards something.
The question is how much time and energy I will allow myself to devote to it--in a year and a half, my youngest will be going to school. If I have something in the works to be published at that point, I can justify doing writing full time--if not, well then I'll be relegating the writing to part-time status permanently. And in the meantime, it keeps me sane while I raise my kids full time.
Heather:
Seems to me you are very practical about it. I know part of the reason for the post I linked to at Nathan's blog was this idea that some people get their writing goals very out-of-whack, largely not practical, expensive, etc.
E
To just focus on my fiction goals, I would say I want to build up an audience for my books, and at a face enough pace to keep my publisher continuing to publish my books.
I would like to publish more than one book a year (not necessarily with the same publisher).
I would like a larger percentage of my income to come from my novels and to eventually lead to the point where all I was writing were novels.
I'd rather have all this sooner than later.
Although I love series fiction, I'm not sure I'm destined to write long-term series fiction ala Robert B. Parker or Sue Grafton or tons of others. I like working with series characters for a handful of books and then I seem to want to work on something/someone else. It's something for me to keep in mind that, as a matter of fact, I might be better suited for writing standalones and I might want that to be part of my goals, or limited series--say 3 or 4 books with a character, then moving to another.
Well, my goal is to make money to keep writing, which is why trying to write something for New York keeps getting shoved down the list. Small presses pay less than my tiny pubs, so they're absolutely out. Just not worth the trouble.
Even first-time NY advances are (by my research) typically in the 4K-10K range, and when you add in that you have to write double the words and piece it out to an agent, then chop it in doled-out pieces...
But right now it's part of the plan because I like to have my fingers in a lot of pots, just in case one breaks. :-) So I'm writing as much as my tiny pubs can buy, then I'm writing two novels to pitch to NY, and then I'll try some pseudonym self-publishing. Then I'll keep repeating the cycle.
I'm really lucky in that my tiny pubs, to be honest, give me lots of room to experiment. I learn a lot and grow a lot that way.
Mark:
You know. I have an idea for a recurring character--I've had a couple of ideas for recurring characters. I sit on the fence about that too.
E
PS: After reading Mark's comment, I have to add that I would kill to have two series going. I've been juggling a four-book series and a five-book series the last couple years, and I love it.
Hi Natasha:
When Bombshell folded, it basically took my Billie Quinn series with it (which I loved writing). I was suprised how much I liked it and toy with trying to do something like that again.
Erica,
Breaking down goals was something I had to learn to do - because I spent too many years looking far into the future and missing out on the things that happened along the way.
That hasn't happened in about 10 years, but I have to indoctrinate myself to that way of thinking with each new life stage - or each new looming life event.
I also strive to not lose sight of the big picture while I'm reveling in the bits.
It's always something, isn't it?
Three years ago, I taped my Main Goal on a sticky note over my computer. It's a whopper, and the odds be damned. I know the odds are long and whatnot, but my thinking is to unashamedly aim for the thing I really want. The worst I can do is fail, and there are worse things in life than failing at an honest effort (because honest effort almost always brings its own unanticipated rewards).
But the day-to-day is consumed with smaller goals, each hopefully that will advance me one step closer to the real prize. This is the craft stuff. You know. My immediate goal is to write a book that doesn't generate this response: "Well-written, imaginative, and fun, but we couldn't relate to the characters' emotional journey." So ... it's small steps, hopefully each designed to take me one step closer to the New York Times Children's bestseller list. (See? I said it out loud.)
Can I change mine to LurkerMonkey's goal?-- I love that!
Amy:
It's funny . . . as a ghostwriter and publishing consultant, I often reduce the publishing process down into basica steps. "First you have to do this . . . then this. . . " as I explain this crazy business sometimes to people outside the business. So I'm used to thinking of it in manageable chunks.
Lurker:
LOVE the "honest effort brings unanticipated rewards." Love that!
E
My goal is to scare people so bad they pee their pants.
I figure everything else will fall in line.
My main goal is to complete books that I am proud of writing.
Bonus would be to get an agent, get a book deal, and make a career out of it.
But for now I'm enjoying the fact that I can actually write and finish a book.
Jude:
Good luck!
E
Nadine:
My first novel . . . I had NO intention of trying to get pubbed (I wrote it to enter a contest . . . and then didn't win but had a request for the full from St. Martin's . . . I was 24 or so . . . maybe 25 or so??). I just wanted to FINISH something that long!!!!!!!
E
Honestly,
My number one writing goal is to write the best young adult fiction that I can. And hopefully, stories that will appeal to reluctant male readers as well as others.
How am I working on this goal? I write often, full-time right now. I read craft books about writing. I read many, many, YA novels. I try to find people to critque my work who have something to offer, who will push me further in my development as a writer.
My number two goal is to put my work out into the world.
How am I working on this goal?
Not too long ago it was all about writing a query letter that would get people interested in reading my book. Now that I have an agent it is all about giving her the best possible manuscripts that I can. I need to keep goal number one in the forefront in order to work on goal number two.
I have many other smaller, more specific goals but these are the big ones. I think I'm pretty honest with myself. I know there are no guarantees. The only things I have some control over are the quality of the writing and how I put myself out there in the world.
Paul:
I love that you are trying to write for reluctant male readers. My oldest son is pretty fussy about what he reads (loved Cirque du Freak, The Uglies--though by the last book in the series, he was disappointed in it, reads manga), but when he finds something he loves . . . he devours it.
I also think it's great to do those steps--write the thing, then the query, then the agent, then deliver a great book . . . you know, the stuff we can control.
Small wish; get published
Big wish; get published enough to quit the day job.
I just write because I like writing. Stories fall into my head and if I don't spit them out onto paper I get a little crazy.
I wrote for a long time without the thought of publishing. I just had stories to put down on paper and never thought past that.
Then I met a good friend who encouraged me to publish. She planted the seed and I started moving toward that goal.
Aimless:
I think it's great to break things into levels of goals.
E
Erica, I love that you aren't someone who preaches to write every day. Sometimes that's just not possible or you need a break. As long as I'm consistent I do okay.
I try to be honest with myself but it's so hard to tell, especially when I feel like I'm too close to my work. The majority of readers on my first novel all liked it, and I couldn't help but think they were all blowing smoke up my ass. I like my second novel better, but again, I'm having a hard time seeing beyond my bubble.
As you're my highest caliber friend, you can expect for favor requests. ;) If I can do anything in return, let me know.
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