Publication as an Olympic Sport

Congrats to Gillian who won a copy of Robyn's wonderful book! I'm also going to be running another giveaway on Wendnesday for a fellow Kiwi and Indulgence author, Michele de Winton so be sure to check in then for a chance to win her book too!

In the meantime, I've been watching the Olympics (and no not just the men's swimming, though....phwoooarrrrr...hehe..) and all the commentary about the self belief and determination that athletes have to have etc, etc has got me thinking about that in conjunction with writing and getting published.

I mean, it really is an Olympic sport isn't it?

If you're exceptionally  lucky you might win gold on your first go and that's fantastic. But if you're like the majority of us it'll take a lot longer than that.  In order to get that coveted medal - a contract - you have to have the kind of focus, determination and self belief that top athletes have.

I have never thought of myself as being a particularly determined or self confident sort. I'm actually full of the insecurities that most writers have, that my writing sucks and no one will ever want to read or even, God forbid, like it. But what I've always had is a healthy dislike of being told what to do, especially when someone tells me 'no'. When someone tells me 'no', I just have to go out and make them change their minds. This made me hell on wheels when I was a kid (yeah, I was a whiner, no surprises there eh?) but it helped a lot when it came to getting published.

Last year I pretty much lost a lot of belief in my abilities as a writer. Every single day I thought about giving up - I kid you not. But dammit, I just couldn't. I couldn't let 'no' be the final word in my writing journey. I couldn't let all the grief the rejections caused be for nothing. I had to keep whining to the grown-ups for my ice cream and I didn't want to stop until they gave in and bought me one.

I leaned pretty heavily on my wonderful CPs in the interim and had lots and lots of moans about how hopeless I was. That was my way of dealing with the feelings of frustration. But that stubborn, whiny  determination kept me writing, kept me learning my craft and kept me sending out stuff. And I guess, deep down, I did have enough belief in myself that I would do it eventually. 

Sure enough, a couple of publishers gave in to my whining and now I have my ice cream. ;-)

So what about you? What keeps you hanging in there on your writing journey? Is it the dream of winning gold? Or something else?

Quicksand Book

This time the quicksand isn't in the journey ahead, it's in the book I'm writing. And no, I'm not exaggerating. I'm SURE my book is composed entirely of quicksand because every time I open the damn document I get sucked in. And not in a good way. More like a 'help, help I'm drowning!' way.

I don't know why this is. It may have something to do with the fact that this is the first contracted book I have to write and maybe the pressure is getting to me. Or maybe it's the fact that I never thought the first book of this series would actually BE a series so having to write two extra stories, with conflicts I thought up quite quickly so I could get the outlines to my editor (oooh secret thrill!), is making me feel a little disconnected from it. Or maybe it's just that I know people are going to read this book. It won't be my little secret this time. Other people will read it, not just an editor. And they'll be able to form their own opinion about whether they liked it or not. Whether I'm a good writer or not. And to be honest, that's freaking me out just a bit.

I think when you're aiming for publication, you get so set on just getting something accepted and you forget that once it is accepted, people will be reading your book. Oh you can kid yourself that only friends and family will read it but the fact is someone, somewhere will buy your book and read it. A complete stranger. Eeeek!

But then that's the whole idea right?  You don't chase publication because you think you're a crap writer and no one should ever read what you wrote. You chase publication because you think people should read the stories you tell. Because you want to share them. I think it was Yvonne Lindsey who asked me one RWNZ meeting, when I shared how scary it was to send something off after you've been rejected lots, whether I thought other people deserved to read my stories. And I remember how struck I was by the word deserved. And how my gut reaction was 'Yes. Yes they do.'

I think I need to hold onto that thought as I continue to push through the quicksand book.

So what about you? Are you chasing publication? If so, why? Do you think other people deserve to read your stories?? Come on now, don't be shy. A writer has to have some ego otherwise we wouldn't be sending our stuff out right? ;-)

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!