Rethinking The 10%

Last year I posted a somewhat gloomy post about how getting published was 30% talent, 30% hard work, 30% persistence, and 10% of luck (or something like that - don't ask me to check). And that the problem I had with that equation was that the 10% was something you had no control over. It might happen. Or it could never happen. It all depends on a combination of the right manuscript, the right publisher, the right editor, at the right time.

Or, in another analogy, a combination of wind speed, trajectory, and the weight of the pig.

Yeah, gloomy, depressing. And I am a great one for looking on the depressing side because sometimes you just don't want to hope.

Luckily I have a mother who is the most incredibly supportive person you could ever want to meet (hi Mum!) and something she said to me last night got me thinking about that old 10%. She reckoned that if luck is involved, all it means is that you have to spread your net wider until you eventually catch something. The wider the net, the greater the chance.

I know, people have been saying this to me for a while now and I have been listening. It's just that I'm a person who gets very focussed on one thing and shifting that focus can be difficult. But this year I'm going to give it a go. This year I'm going to try something a little different.

And starting it off is going to be my first attempt at a novella. I've never really liked short stories to be honest (except for Roald Dahl) - I like my stories long. And as far as writing one...I have difficulty with keeping under 50k let alone writing reeeeeaaaallly short. But I had an idea for a shorter story a couple of weeks ago and...well...gotta widen that net, right? Besides, as my six year old keeps telling me, 'only try, Mummy. You have to try'. :-)

So, anyone else widening their net and trying something different? If so, what is it? Share!

Climbing Mt Ngauruhoe

Holidays over. Phew. And a new month, which is even better, cos July has been, quite frankly, a stinker.

Yep, you guessed it, moany post alert! I haven't had one for a while so I figure I'm due one.

Keeping going with this writing stuff hasn't got any easier I'm afraid. I've stoppped thinking of climbing Everest. I'm now thinking in terms of Ngauruhoe. This is a mountain in NZ - for all you LOTR fans out there, it's Mt Doom. Which is a very appropriate title.

Why the change? Well, with Everest if you have the right equipment and skill level, and the weather is on your side, you can get to the top. I admit that in my forays up Everest my skill wasn't great, nor my equipment the best. But then you don't know these things until you fall off. The other thing I needed was the weather but somehow or other, the right combination of skill, equipment and weather has never lined up favourably for me. However, the thing about Everest is that I mostly enjoyed climbing it.

But I'm not these days which is why it feels like I'm climbing Ngauruhoe instead. This is a mountain comprised totally of shale. Climbing it is like climbing a massive sand dune. One step up, two steps back. There's no joy in climbing it (at least, when I actually did climb it years ago, I hated every moment of it), because all you do is trudge and keep trudging. What you need to get to the top is dogged determination and the belief you can do it.

And that's what I'm struggling to find. Dogged determination and self belief. One step forward is always accompanied by two steps back. It's dispiriting.Which makes it hard to keep going. What's the point when no matter how hard you climb, you don't get any higher?

So, what do you all do when you're feeling this way? Got any tips for me? God knows I could use 'em! :-)

Having a Whinge

Having a grumpy 'I hate waiting' day today. Also a 'my mansucript sucks and is boring' day. There's lots of emotion in there - I'm actually wondering if there's too much! - but it still feels boring! Maybe I'm too close. Maybe I need to put a car chase in there to liven things up. ;-) But y'know, with Modern Heat, it's all about the internal conflict and that means keeping external stuff to a minimum. My characters don't seem to do much but go from his house, to her house, to a restaurant, to a beach, back to her house... You see what I mean? This does seem to be the case with other Modern Heats I've been reading (and actually some Moderns too!) but when I read mine, it just feels like there should be more happening. I could stick in a mountain climbing scene, since my hero is a climber, but then that adds nothing to the romance and I'd only put it in to indulge myself.

Aaanyway, which is why I'd really, really like to hear back about what they think of it right now. Like everyone else with subs out there, right? :-) Think I need to go out on an NTAI spree...

Failing that, I could work on the five other manuscripts that I've got festering away on my computer, all in various stages of being re-written. In fact, I seem to have been in re-writing mode for the past six months. I've got the initial stages of a new idea but I keep getting distracted by my earlier manuscripts and ideas on how I can make them stronger.

Anyone else re-writing an old manscript? Or do old stories go down the bottom of a drawer never to be heard from again?