I’m on the home straight of my novel, ‘Blindsided‘, just 4 chapters to go and I’ve now gone and got Manflu which usually renders men useless and depressive oafs.
Now I’m thinking this novel is probably crap; the story is boring, characters are one dimensional, there’s no flare or finesse, along with the fact my first two novels are going nowhere fast.
So why bother?
I read a traditionally published novel this year similar to one of mine and I thought it was pretty poor. Others on Goodreads thought it was pretty poor too. Mine is of a similar genre , and I think better, yet I get rejections coming out my ears and this other one gets the full professional treatment.
Maybe I’m biased and bitter.
So the following tweet I saw struck a chord…
Did I ruin my life by devoting my time to writing books 2,000 people will read? Etc. Leads to bizarre in-fighting and defensiveness.
— Jessa Crispin (@thebookslut) November 11, 2013
If I allow the paracetamol hit to wear off and finish my hot lemon drink, I might be able to grab some positives.
Finishing the first draft of a novel is something to be proud of. No-one’s going to see it. The subsequent drafts is where I can add finesse and depth.
In the break between first and second drafts, I’m planning on self-publishing my first novel which is something I’m very much looking forward to. If I could get 2,000 people to actually buy it, that would be amazing.
Writing is a waste of time if you look at it financially or logically. It’s a crazy waste of time but, to paraphrase Churchill, ‘What are we fighting for‘ if we don’t indulge our creative sides.
I could better spend my time painting fences, learning to cook, learning Spanish, working more overtime, etc but I wouldn’t be as happy. I should remember that sometimes; the act of writing and making shit up does make me happy even if it doesn’t always make itself immediately apparent.
Hi.
If you keep on doing a thing, whatever it is, then you will be getting better at it. If looking back you can see the crappy bits, then that shows progress. Also, if you want to be an interesting writer you should be learning cooking, Spanish, even painting fences,etc.etc. AS WELL. You are doing it, so just get on and finish it. It won’t be a waste of time and you’ll feel better for it.
The act of finishing something does automatically make it 10 times better for me. Yeah, you just gotta knuckle down.
I think it’s the doing it repeatedly and getting the same result but expecting something different’ that is doing my head in.
I’ll weatherproof the fence mañana.