"Aspiring Writers"

I'm thirty-two years old. I don't have a college degree, but I have almost four years of college under my belt (none of it in any sort of liberal arts fields of study). I have about ten or twelve years of work experience under my belt, too. What I really want to be, though, is a writer.

I'd like to set out a few definitions. First, a writer is one who writes, pure and simple. If you write poetry, short stories, novels, the funny pages, or greeting cards, you're a writer. It doesn't matter if you're published or not; if you perform the act of writing, for good or ill, you're a writer. Now, an author is one for whom writing is a bona-fide career. An author has works published (whether they are popular or relatively unknown) and can, more than likely, be counted on to have future works published as well. Now that we've got that straight, let's move on.

If I had a quarter for every person I heard say, "well, when I finish my book I'll..." (fill in the blank there), I'd be a rich woman. Don't ever plan for "when the book's done". Nine times out of ten, your plan is NOT going to be fulfilled. It's the lucky, the good and the few who write a first book, land an agent on the first round of mailings (and a reputable agent, too) who can then go on to sell your book to a publisher with all that entails. For the rest of us, writing is work, just like any other kind of job. It involves forethought, research, time, and dedication. Unlike most things, where you can do one out of four really well and skate by on the other stuff, with writing, you have to do all of them really well to be successful.

I wrote a book. About four years ago, I finished it, and believed in that book. I loved the characters, and knew them as well as DH who sat on the couch next to me. The story was good in my eyes - it was engaging, interesting, and swift - all the things a book ought to be. I did about five rounds of editing before I sent it out to agents, made countless copies, did a thousand different versions of my query letter, and then finally sent it out to agents. About 65 of them. Not one requested more than three chapters, and only a couple requested the three chapters. I had failed, and I believed, for a VERY long time, that I was not a writer.

Then, I learned. I studied the craft. I read authors I would have not even considered before. I paid attention not only to the action in the books I read, but to the styles and techniques the authors used to tell their stories. I learned.

Now I'm writing my second book, and I'm still an "aspiring writer". I work just as hard as DH does going to work every day, except the time I put in is behind a keyboard at my own desk. This book is more thought out, more planned, more determined and even more satisfying than the first book ever was. I haven't gotten but about a chapter written, but there are a couple hundred pages of a world outline, several maps, a bunch of "thought maps", a language spreadsheet, language and grammar rules, and extensive histories. I haven't enjoyed writing this much since I learned to hold a pencil.

So, "aspiring writers" out there, don't put too much stock in "when I get my book done". Treat it as your first lesson in learning to be a writer, and your first step to becoming an author. Don't count on your book being published, wowing the masses or being the best thing since.... well... Lord of the Rings or something. Most of the time, it's not gonna happen. It took me about four years to figure that out, and that's time I could have been using to learn and improve myself instead of wallowing in my own, self-perceived failure.

Don't give up. Keep learning. Keep writing.

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I thought I was finished with this post. I published it about an hour ago, and re-read it a couple of times, and just didn't feel quite right about it. Here's why:

You, out there - yes, you, the aspiring writer reading this - I can hear you saying right now, But that's not me. For you guys, I was you, about six years ago. No, not six years - more like my entire life. I didn't believe that I would ever be unsuccessful as a writer. I didn't believe someone would read my "stuff" and not fall instantly in love with my work. Those of you out there that are saying that's not me right now, this post is for YOU. I wish I could say that a few of you might read this and realize that maybe I could be on to something, and maybe change the way you do things right now before you suffer the disappointment that I had to suffer to learn the hard lessons I've learned. I know, though, that the vast majority of you who read this post will be convinced by nothing other than the ton of bricks falling on your head (like me) and then, maybe, you'll remember reading this. Maybe then you'll think about how you do things and try to find a way to do them better - not for my sake, or the agents' sakes, or for your family's sakes, but for your own sake.

I don't get anything out of this. I don't even feel all "high and mighty" because I've learned these things, either. Writing is, at the very bottom of the barrel, a business, and like any business, if your product isn't 100% spot-on, it's not going to sell. This post is something to make you look at yourself and try to make yourself better. If I can't succeed but you do, I have nothing but pride for you for your success. I want you to do well, and that's the bottom of it. If you think that's not me, re-evaluate and decide if it really isn't - my money is on that it is you, you just don't know it yet.