Who'd be a writer, eh?

A composite of images created when I first started writing the novel - it helps one to "see" and "feel" the characters and the mood of the story

There is, I have to tell you, only one place you can go after “up” – and that’s down. You may recall the post from last Friday, with me on a focused, wild high of editing – feeling super optimistic about my novel. Hmm, yes, well… Several hours later I was down in the black hole of hopelessness.

I’d been buoyed up by news earlier in the week that the vampire trend which has been so big in the US was set to hit the UK and although my novel is not specifically a vampire novel it does fall into the paranormal genre. I prefer to think of the story as a coming of age tale. The vampire element, though fundamental to the story is not what the story is “all about” – it’s the means, rather than the end. It’s the journey of self-discovery and personal growth that is critical to the plot - but it does need the specific paranormal genre in which it is set in order to work.

Anyway, I contacted a couple of writing friends in the UK to get their view on what I’d heard and was told, actually, if you think about it, if the trend is about to hit the UK, this means that editors have already done the acquisitions. You have to bear in mind the two year lead in time. Anything that is about to hit the street now was acquired two years ago. In a nutshell, Vanilla, duckie, you’ve missed the boat.

Bugger, damn and far more colourful words sprang to mind. I wouldn’t have minded quite so much if a) I'd had set out to write to a trend and b) if I’d only written the first draft last week. But the thing was I wasn't writing to a trend and the first draft of the novel was written between February and April of 2006 (bang on trend target!).

So here I sit with my now edited and re-re-re-edited manuscript, facing the likelihood that even if it is any good (and personally, I think it is), that no one will want to take it on because its “missed the trend”. Pooh.

The thing is, where to now? One view is to put the manuscript aside and leave it until “later”. The other view is to submit it anyway and see what happens.

Fortunately, I am working on another manuscript and am thinking maybe I should just focus on that and get that ready for submission. But when you’ve put so much work into something it seems criminal to just walk away from it – and besides, I have a character who is having a major sulk at me and I feel really bad about her. She wants to be out there – and since she has all sorts of superhuman powers I’m a wee bit worried about what she might do to me!

Of course, there are lessons that come out of everything and in this instance, the writing lessons aside (more on that another time), the thing that struck me most forcibly is the choice I have in responding to the situation. Although my initial reaction was woe, doom and gloom, I realised too that I could choose not to be upset about it – and since not being upset is far nicer than being miserable, that’s what I chose to do.

You see, one can take two views on everything – the external, of the world, view and the internal, place of inner stillness, view. The one is ego dominated, the other is soul dominated. I opted for the latter. It’s ultimately, I believe, more sensible and puts one back on a level base from which to decide how to move forward. Much better, I think, that stonking around and feeling deeply sorry for oneself!

And as to what I’m going to do – well, I’ll let you know just as soon as I’ve figured it out! For now, I'm working on getting the other manuscript edited.

Writing - why bother?

I often wonder if people realised just how tough it was to become an author whether they would ever bother to even try and write a book. There are just so many impediments – and it seems to get worse, rather than better.

For one thing, while I know it is said that everyone has a book in them, the simply reality is not everyone can write. There are plenty who think they can write, but thinking you can write and being an outstanding writer are two vastly different things. A friend was muttering to me the other day about a colleague who was convinced she could write stunningly well. “I just shake my head,” said my friend. “Her writing is so bad I can’t even edit it, I have no idea where to even begin trying.” And never mind just the ability (or lack thereof) to be able to string coherant and resonant sentences together, but you also have to think about plot, characterisation, structure and pace.

Even for those who do write well the road to authordom is not guaranteed, you also need to have the right idea at the right time and it needs to hit the right editor’s desk on the right day. See, there are about four variables in that alone.

The simple reality is that publishers are looking for novels that will sell - and sell early, quickly and prolifically. Publication is less about the pursuit of great literature and far more about the bottom line. Face it, no profit, no chance of staying in business. No need for manuscripts. And the current economic climate is only going to make publishers even more cautious than before. It ain’t getting any easier…

The other sad point is that most writers don’t make enough to live on. Most have a day job. Most may write for ten years before they get a sniff at publication – if they’re lucky. John Creasey, the British mystery author, purportedly received 743 rejection slips before he finally made it to publication. Even J K Rowling garnered her fair share of rejection slips before Barry Cunningham spotted her.

And here’s the other thing; even if you write well and have you have great idea, if your timing is wrong, you’re stuffed. Trends, like tides, dominate publishing. At one moment it’s Harry Potter type books that are big, the next it’s paranormal. As with surfing, you have to catch the wave at exactly the right time, or you’ll miss the ride.

The current paranormal trend is about, I suspect, to peter out. A bit sad for me who’s still trying to get to an absolutely bloody final edit with my YA paranormal… Meanwhile, it appears a new wave is already building – one related to the Mayan calendar. If you haven’t written your Mayan calendar story yet and got it submitted, forget it, by the time you’ve written it and edited it the requisite 65 (or more) times, you can pretty much be sure the wave will have hit the shore, run up the beach, knocked down your sandcastle and ebbed away - and it will be time for something new.

One might wonder why anyone ever bothers – and persists in bothering. I suppose it’s simply this: writers write because they must, because it’s life and blood to them. You persist because when you’ve gone so far you may as well keep going, because you believe in your story and your words. And because the thought of not doing what you’re passionate about is like being asked to stop breathing. Ultimately it’s less about being published and more about just needing to write. I wrote my first play when I was nine – set on rollerskates it predated Starlight Express by a good few years – and I charged the neighbourhood kids 5 cents to watch it. Now, if I’ve been writing for so long can I reasonably be expected to stop now? Of course, there is always the chance that I am incurably insane – but I suspect that may be a prerequisite for the job – that, and having a hide like an elephant.