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| Matt Haig Notes on a Nervous Planet |
If you are a writer, tenacity is certainly a prerequisite.
Writing is hard. Also, it is very enjoyable and the best job ever a lot of the
time, otherwise why would we do it? Whatever stage in your writing career you
will need tenacity. Everyone’s journey, as an aspiring writer and/or as a published writer, is going to be different and personal to you. Consequently,
it is important, as Matt Haig says, that you ‘Do not compare yourselves to
others.’
It is worth also remembering that writing is a
marathon, it is not a sprint. You might hear odd stories about people writing fast
and being published very quickly. For a start, I’d say I bet they have done a whole
lot of prewriting and that is why they could write fast, but they are just not
counting it because it sounds so much better if you can say you wrote a book in
a couple of months. Being published quickly is often the case of being in the
right place at the right time (or being a celebrity!) The reality for most of
us is very different. Writing takes time. A tweet I circulated recently said
that according to Paul Graham, ‘The easy, conversational tone of good writing
comes only on the eighth rewrite.’ To be honest I thought eight was a bit
optimistic. More like twelve plus at least! Be prepared as well that it might
take more than one novel. You may write several before you find the right one
that really works. Flight was my fourth novel. The other three are unlikely to
ever see the light of day, but I see them as my practice
novels. I learnt so
much writing each one of them. When Flight was picked up, I had been writing seriously
for over twelve years. (the photo shows a meeting where it was decided I should
start submitting Flight. I was lucky I not only worked with Golden Egg Academy,
but I was also mentored by Imogen Cooper)
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Rewriting and editing can take a very long time and
luxuriate in that first book when you do have time to dedicate to it. It’ll be
a different situation after you have been picked up by a publisher. The
deadlines will be a whole lot tighter and the chances are you won’t have so
much time to write any subsequent books once you are published.
Once you have got a deal and a book out there, tenacity
is still necessary. It might be linked to other elements of your life as a
writer. Obviously, you will be writing your next book, but you are also going
to be publicising/marketing your current book. Having a presence on social
media, cultivating new audiences, potentially presenting at schools, literary
festivals or undertaking library visits. It is all about juggling and ensuring
you don’t become overwhelmed. See a recent post I did for the AwfullyBigBlogAdventure
blog on remembering to enjoy your work.
Be kind to yourself. Writing’s hard, as I said, and
the ‘journey’ can be a long and bumpy one, particularly if you are getting lots
of rejections from agents and publishers. We’ve all been there, and it is
really bruising. Allow yourself to grieve briefly each rejection. Then remind
yourself it’s one person’s opinion and it only takes one person to say ‘Yes!’ Don’t
be hard on yourself, see the rejection as part of the journey and something
constructive. If you find in the rejection feedback that they all mention the
same element as an issue/concern, then you know you need to address it. If,
however, the feedback is all different, read it. Take it on board. Work on what
you think is fair and relevant then move on to the next submission. One day you
might be the one talking to aspiring writers about the number of rejections you
got, as a badge of honour, and how you eventually got published. This photo is
over a rejection letter I got a long time ago for a novel that when I look back
Importantly, don’t give up. You can do this. The
writing community is amazing and supportive. Find your tribe and talk to them. Understand
that getting a book published is hard, but if you believe in your story, build
that tenacity up
Ness x
@VanessaHarbour
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