Writing Session 1: Under His Wing
Author/Genre: JD/contemp. paranormal romance
Words written: 626
Total words: 15,729
Time Spent: 30 minutes
Notes: Another slow starter (gee, can I whine enough about that lately?), but once I got going and focused, it just scooted right along. Just how do you explain the internet to someone who’s never encountered it? And will Thomas become an addict, or remain a luddite when he leaves Katie? Burning (um, no pun intended) questions, aren’t they?
I’ve been over-thinking lately, as I tend to do all too often, about writing. About falling sales. About not being a good enough writer, and not even really being sure if I know enough about what constitutes “good” writing to get better or not. I ponder that every time a bunch of writers is tearing apart a book I enjoyed reading…if my taste in reading material is questionable according to a vocal majority(?) of writers, how could I possibly know what good writing is?
I ask myself why I write if not to sell…and the answer is, because I can’t “not” write. I love the actual act of writing – the discovery of the story when I’m working my way through the first draft. If I don’t write, those stories swirl around in my head, errant fantasies and what-ifs with no healthy outlet.
Which begs the next question – if the act of writing is “enough” by itself, why try to sell? Why not just write, and be done with it? I still don’t have a good answer to that. I’ll let you know if I find one, but I do feel compelled to share my stories. Ego, probably.
Then while working through my feed reader today, I found this little gem buried casually in a Lifehacker post about Adam Roger’s workspace :
And then this, from my friend Matt Bai, on book-writing: No book sells. Your book will not sell. So don’t let anyone else tell you how to write it so that it will sell, because they don’t know. And when it doesn’t sell, and you’re looking at it on your bookshelf, you want to be able to say, well, at least I wrote the book that I wanted. Because otherwise you’ll think, well, if I had written the book I wanted, maybe it would have sold.
It made me feel better about the books I write, at least. They may not be “good”, they certainly aren’t high literature, but they are the stories as I discovered them, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing them, whether I think they ultimately turned out well or not (some yes, some not so much). And they may not be selling well, but I wrote the story as I felt it needed to be told. More art than craft – which is normally a concept I rebel against, but here, I find myself embracing it.
Tomorrow, more discovery. And I’ll relish every minute of it. Whether it sells or not later on is…well…inconsequential, really.
I think it’s difficult to answer the question “good writing.” But I’m constantly awed by your ability to put book after book out there. I think it takes a great deal of courage, because no one – not even the best selling authors – know if their book is great, or if it’s going to be received well by readers.
It’s a great skill to be able to finish projects,to stop and say enough, it’s going out in the world. And to do it. I am working on that skill.
Courage or hubris, one of the two. 😉 But thanks.
I love writing…which a lot of authors prefer to get past as quickly as possible because they like revisions/editing better. So I think I have an advantage there – I hate revisions, so it’s easier for me to call it “good enough” and move on.
Jamie, first let me say that you are my hero. You are constantly writing and producing. It takes my breath away. Next, I like your writing. I think it is good. I have watched it progress in the 4 or 5 years that I have known you. IMHO, your writing only gets better. I know I have told you this before but I am going to bore you with it again. At this time in my life because of visual issues reading is a challenge for me. I am able to read best on my computer screen from a vision standpoint but it is difficult to read for too long because of pain issues from sitting. I think your serials, despite you love of cliffhangers, have been an absolute lifesaver for me. I have a “quick bite” of your story to read and digest that is easy on my eyes AND my back. You KNOW how much I love to read and so your stories are a gift and a treasure to me. Now, if I could figure out a way to help you sell them. I did get a review written in the past week or so. I have been bad about getting reviews written but I will try to make the extra effort because I do think that books that have reviews are more likely to get another reader’s attention. Some of your books I have to finish. I haven’t gotten all of them read all of the way through but by golly I have bought all of them. I did get some for free but when I inventoried my copies of your books I had four copies of one of the books. Who knows how many times I bought it and if I managed to get if free a time or two? I always want to make sure I don’t miss anything. 😉 Keep believing in yourself and your gift. I think you are awesome. Hugs, Ardee-ann
Oh, and what do you mean when you say that Thomas is going to LEAVE Katie? I don’t think that is in my contract as your reader for him to LEAVE Katie. I think you need to contemplate this story a little longer if you think Thomas is going to LEAVE Katie. Or I could do as my dear friend Kenny tells me, “Go write your own damn book.” 😛 Hugs, Ardee-ann
Ardee-ann, if you let me know what you’re missing, I’ll more than happily fill in the blanks with free copies. You are gold, my friend, and I’m a lucky girl to have you in my corner!
As for Thomas and Katie…have faith! Have I ever let you down? 😉
Jamie, I think my comment about how many of your books I have wasn’t clear. I have every single one of your books. I just have multiple copies of some of them. I guess I have been in the bookstore and thought, “Hmm, I don’t have that book,” so I have bought it…sometimes more than once and one of the books I bought 4 times. Now, I could look right in my book folder to see if I have one of the books but I can be lazy. I have just gone ahead and purchased the book. LOL!!! I am probably your best customer, although I have been lucky enough to get some of the books for free. 😀
As for Thomas and Katie, I will have faith if you insist. No, you haven’t let me down. It was just that the comment you made got me worried. I wanted to let you know my thoughts on the subject. Ahem! Hugs, Ardee-ann