What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Writing A Book

10 Painful Truths I Wish Someone Told Me About Writing

I failed to build a career as a news journalist. I failed to hold down a well-paying contract with a magazine.

Ten Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me As a Newbie Author

I failed to turn a well-paying freelance job into a profitable permanent job. Worst of all, I failed to write and publish a book before I was 30 a life-long goal.

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You need a thousand die-hard fans that will buy everything you write and tell all their friends about you too. Margarita Gakis advises the same, but urges even more to simply write. Never miss a story from The Writing Cooperative , when you sign up for Medium. If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Ariane is a thoughtful and helpful guide who leads us on this daunting, but exciting, path.

On good days, I felt restless; on bad days I was devastated by my lack of progress. Writing is a personal thing, and not something you can fake or dial in. For several years in my early 20s, after I had failed as a journalist but before I made a living from writing, I worked in a career that had nothing to do with words. I struggled to find some time outside of work to write every day.

I told myself it would keep till tomorrow and that I could write at the weekend. When I finally had the guts to sit down in front of the blank page and do my work, I could barely remember where I left off or what I wanted to say. It took me so long to find the right words that I felt like a beginner. In my early twenties, I was just an amateur trying to figure out my way around the blank page. Sometimes, I make embarrassing mistakes.

I still fall, but I read as much as I can about writing, creativity and productivity.

Writers, Journalers & Content Creators: I Wish Someone Had Told Me This Sooner!

I use what I discover to fall forwards, instead of falling down. Sign in Get started. Everyone gets bad reviews. Look up your all-time favorite book. I guarantee that you will find someone who utterly loathed it and flamed it royally in their review. Because if someone can hate the book you adore , then it puts things in perspective for you.

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I know many authors who interact with their fans quite happily on Goodreads, but I confess, it feels like an abandoned mine field to me. One false step and BOOM. Margarita Gakis advises the same, but urges even more to simply write. And then there is the classic post regarding reviews from the imitable Amy Lane: The Five Stages of a Bad Review.

Beta readers versus Editors and what they bring to the table: Every error they catch, every change they suggest, is not an insult to your talents or story, or a sign of failure, but one more thing that will be better when a ctual readers buy your book. At the same time, remember it is YOUR story.

You can tell an editor they are wrong, if you truly believe that. They are human and fallible and sometimes your vision has to be the one that carries the day. I think this is very important on many levels. As authors, particularly new authors, we have to be willing to accept the input of others, especially if we keep getting similar feedback from multiple sources: At the same time, it can be difficult not to let a strong-minded person take on more credit for the shaping of your story than they really deserve—or should have.

Beta readers are not editors, either. Yes, they will catch typos, but their primary function is to tell you if the story is working or not. Different people catch different things, so I think it is very important to have more than one beta reader. But my main reason for having multiple readers is two-fold: A good beta reader is worth their weight in gold. They will help you produce the cleanest copy possible for submission to a publisher. They are cheerleaders and problem-spotters.

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But once the story moves on to editing, their role is usually done. Beta-readers are often friends, which can make it very painful to sever the relationship if it is no longer working for you. But if your beta-reader is acting like a gatekeeper between you and publishing, it is definitely time to end the relationship. Editors will clean up and tighten your prose, point out that you have used the same phrase thirty-seven times, correct your somewhat loose interpretation of the Chicago Manual of Style, and identify where things need to be explained in greater detail or a weak plot point that needs fixing.

But they should not be altering your style to match their own. It is your story. They are polishing the finish on the sports car, not re-building the engine. Getting a revise and re-submit request is a good thing. It means the publisher sees promise in your story, but that it is still a bit rough around the edges.

Look, I have nothing against dino porn, but if you want to write it, do so because you enjoy it, okay? And no sockpuppets singing your praises or slinging mud at the competition. Pricing your story so that it sells well, or making the first book in a series free? Buying your way onto the bestseller lists is. The best way to make writing pay for you? Be working on your next story while you are launching your previous one and be thinking about the next one, too.

Readers are like stray cats. If you feed them, they will come. Most of us go through a post-story blues, where it is hard to move on to the next project. The promise throughout the book is to speak the truth, warts and all. The author, Jennifer Hacker Pearson, hopes that by sharing these experiences mums-to-be and new mothers will be better prepared going into their journey of childbirth and motherhood, and that their knowledge of these things, and that they happen to other women too, will reduce their chance of perinatal fear, stress, anxiety and depression.

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