Things Writers WISH People Understood: The ATB Edition

https://twitter.com/Authoralexp

Today's post is brought to you by this tweet.  I pretty much agree with everything this author has to say, and today I'd like to expound on his list a little while adding a few things of my own and also some insight from other ATB contributors.

Let's get into it!

"You don't get magically published after one draft."

You sit down at your computer and crank out a manuscript, type "the end", and then email it to a publisher who immediately accepts it, sends you money for your manuscript, and then publishes it a month later with some brilliant cover art. Right? 
Not only do you not get published after one draft, you might not even get published after one manuscript. Maybe two. Maybe more!  But finishing the first draft is only the beginning of a very long journey that should involve critique, editing, feedback, changes, and many more improvements before you even consider showing that puppy to anyone even remotely associated with the publishing industry.

"We're not Experts at Writing"

I think this one might elicit a little pushback from some writers who have been at their game for a while, but I doubt you'll ever hear this from me. I think writing is a never ending process of evolution. I think a good writer is never satisfied with the level of their craft and always strives to improve.  At some point your quality may become more consistent, and you might have a lot of well-earned experience on method and technique and other elements. Hell, you might even be knowledgeable enough to teach a writing class. But would even Shakespeare himself ever think he's reached a pinnacle from beyond which there is nothing more to be gained or learned? I can't speak for him, but for me I doubt there could ever come a day when I thought there was no more room for improvement. Maybe that's not the same thing as being an "expert" but a lot of us writers will always question our expertise or lack thereof.

"No, writing is not easy"

I cannot put myself in an even *imaginary* mindset where I could think of writing as ever being easy. From concept to execution, there has never been a moment when I thought any of it was easy. Even as a student with strong writing skills and prompts from teachers and professors, writing was hard. All these years later after publishing many short stories and books, writing, and particularly finishing, a project is still one of the hardest things to do. This belief about writing being easy always seems to come from people who never actually sat down and tried to write anything from beginning to end. Perhaps they know deep down that it would be tremendously difficult, so they decide to be dismissive rather than honest and have to potentially face their own failure.

The very first manuscript I ever wrote was simply an exercise in proving to myself that I could begin and end a book-length story. I knew if I couldn't do that, then there was no sense in putting serious energy into even thinking about being a writer. The resulting novel was terrible, and cheesy, and will never see the light of day, but even then I suspected that one of the greatest challenges to being an author wasn't necessarily skill or the publishing industry itself, but rather the simple (simple, ha!) act of writing a complete story from beginning to end.

Now my biggest problem is getting over my own imposter syndrome. See Christian's thoughts on that, below.

"Yes, you can make money as a writer"

Have I received payment for things I have written? Yes. Have I spent more in marketing and opportunity costs than I have made? Also yes. I have friends who are both traditionally published and independently or self published who have managed to survive financially off their book royalties. I know it's possible, but it takes either a certain amount of luck, or a certain hustle mind-set that I simply do not have. For me, writing will probably always be an expensive hobby rather than a profitable occupation, but I know for a fact that it can provide reliable income. However, I think it's unlikely that the majority of authors make "Big Bucks" like King and Gaiman. The caveat I would add to "yes, you can make money as a writer" is to keep reasonable expectations.

"Just because you've been working on a draft a long time DOESN'T mean you're bad at writing."

Here are some big numbers from some big names for context:

•         Margaret Mitchell took ten years to write Gone With the Wind (1936).
•         Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz also took ten years to write his debut novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007).
•          Maya Angelou took fifteen years to write the final volume of her autobiography, A Song Flung up to Heaven (2002).
•          J.K. Rowling took five years to plan the story of Harry Potter before she even started writing the first book.
•           J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit took seven years in itself), then he took sixteen years to write the sequel.

ht Source: https://writersrelief.com/2015/07/15/authors-years-to-write-books/

Imposter Syndrome strikes again!

“From fellow ATB contributor, Christian Angeles: "Even if you’re famous/successful/read by buttloads of people/ have all the accolades… imposter syndrome will always be something you deal with."

Christian says: "You can sell a million copies of a book and still worry that anything you make
afterwards will never be good enough, despite proving otherwise, time and time again. Writing is one of those rare jobs where it feels like you have to prove yourself every time."

"From fellow ATB contributor, Victor Catano: "Telling people that yes, you are a writer. Yes, for real."

I asked Victor for clarification.

Me: Is that because you think people don't believe that you're a writer or because you have a hard time believing it yourself. i.e., imposter syndrome

Victor: Most people are very supportive, but there are always a couple who are surprised, despite my talking about it all the time

So, one side of this is having some confidence in your material and wanting to share and talk about it, and then having people not take you seriously, be dismissive, or downright not believe you. The other side of this is one I feel very close to my heart. In virtual spaces (like blogs and social media), I can talk about the writing experience in great and open detail. But in "real life" I am very uncomfortable talking about writing and being a writer. I think it, again, harkens back to that imposter syndrome thing. I find it hard to accept my own catalogue as sufficient evidence that I am indeed an actual and bona fide writer.  In fact, when people easy accept or acknowledge me as a writer, it can often strengthen my feelings of imposer syndrome.

From fellow ATB contributor, Mary Fan: "Marketing departments, not editors, decide what gets published".

This perspective comes from someone who has had a little more experience with the traditional publishing industry than I have. But if you really want to see evidence of this, just read up on what's been happening with the hearings on the potential Penguin Random House's merger with Simon & Shuster: https://www.vox.com/culture/23316541/publishing-antitrust-lawsuit-merger-department-justice-penguin-random-house-simon-schuster.

I think other evidence of this being true is when you tend to see trends in book releases.  When one new book does really well in a certain genre or niche genre, suddenly you'll see dozens of other new books that seem to follow in very similar footsteps, for good or for bad. Publishers want to sell books and if readers seem to like a thing, Publishers want to give them more and more of that thing ad nauseum. Hollywood is guilty of this too, of course, but that's another blog post for another day.

And finally, my own addition to this list: "There are many things that go into being a writer beyond putting words on a page and you can be writing even when you actively aren't."

Research, plotting, learning, going out and having life experiences that can later turn into book fodder, day dreaming, discussions with other writers, reading other books, editing, slush reading, and a myriad other things go into being a writer. Typing on a keyboard is just one of the many tasks a "real" writer undertakes. I also don't believe you have to actively add words to a manuscript every day to be a "real" writer. Sometimes giving yourself a break and letting yourself rest is important too. I've solved some of my biggest plot conundrums while doing other tasks, or even sleeping! My mom was a computer programmer and she solved a lot of her programming problems in her sleep. I remember her sometimes telling me in the mornings that she had left work the day before with a problem but woke up in the middle of the night with the solution. Our subconscious is a great place for solving problems.

www.KarissaLaurel.com