Thursday, June 10, 2010

Writing Isn’t Easy

Today I’m going to explore the myth that writing is easy. If I could have a dollar for every time someone has told me writing is easy, I’d probably be a millionaire by now.

I kid you not.

People have this strange illusion you just sit down at the computer and the words flow. Now, I have to be honest, there are some days the words do flow but there are others where no matter what I do, nothing happens. The key is to make the days where nothing happens few and far between.

Now, there are many ways to do this and one I utilize quite often is to read industry books. Recently I found a new to me book called How To Write A Best Seller by Rob Parnell. Here’s one of the best quotes I have ever seen regarding rejects:

"The entire publishing industry is set up to say ‘no’ as a reflex. Have you noticed this? Of course. It’s self evident. Plus, it makes sense. If only one in a thousand published books ever sells more than 60 copies (did you know this was the shocking reality?) then saying ‘no’ does them little harm. In fact it saves them a lot of hard work, paper and money. The majority of publishers survive on re-printing books that have proved themselves first anyway – whether that be in the small presses or on other publisher’s lists. No-one, it seems, is prepared to stick their neck out anymore – if they ever were – and say ‘this is it’ – this is a potential bestseller. For good reason – it’s impossible to predict these things."

This is the hard, cold reality of writing and getting published.

In my mind, it all goes back to the fact that writing isn’t easy. You have to have a great product right out of the gate or it will languish and never sell a thing. This means to me every word on the written page must count. Every word must belong to the overall product. That’s hard in anyone’s book and it doesn’t matter whether you write scientific papers, white papers or the great American novel. Writing is hard work. Period.

Recently, I heard the lamenting of ebook writers who were saying they haven’t sold very many books over the short course of their career. One of things I have noticed in today’s world is the fact one must promote themselves daily. Matter of fact, I set aside a whole day to promoting and it’s usually Wednesday. So you all know if you see more of me on the loops on this day, you know why.

There’s also the fact, I belong to an unsightly number of looks. At last count, it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 of them. That’s right, 175 and it so explains the nearly 3000 emails a day. I’m sure you’re all wondering how I keep them all straight. Well, I can thank Outlook for this as I have tons of folders and archive weekly what I don’t delete. Then there is also the fact that on a yahoogroup, your messages are always there. So if you’ve missed something, you can just go back into the group and see what you’ve missed.

I’ve had to do that a lot with the number of times I’ve killed a computer. But that’s a story for a different day.

Today’s quote definitely goes along with the subject. Hope you agree:

Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

I couldn’t have said it better. Hope you all have a great writing or reading day!

Lynn

8 comments:

  1. I would love to be an author, but I have no creativity so my "books" would be about 2 pages long. So, I try to be the best reader I can be, :)

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  2. I can so relate to this story Lynn. I can't count how many times my husband has come home and asked how much I wrote in a day. I can say as much as 3000 words, or as little as 500 and he still says "Is that all?" Makes me want to strangle him. On the days I can't write at all he is amazed. He doesn't understand why the words don't come if I already know the story's theme, and the way it's supposed to end, why I can't spend all day just whipping out those chapters. He believes an 80K word book should be written in less than a week, tops!

    Thanks for the validation that it isn't just me :)

    Missy Martine
    www.missymartine.com

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  3. Wow! You really hit on something there. Writing isn't easy at all. I agree with you, some days, it pours out like an unstoppable dam, but when it drys up, it's gone! I try without success to limit those "dry days". Great blog! I'll follow you. :0)

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  4. Anne,

    Every author knows they can't be without their readers. Thank you very much for supporting us!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  5. Missy,

    I so hear and understand what you're saying. Thank goodness my DH doesn't ask any more about word count. But he does as how the day goes as he knows the 18 yo can be an absolute concentration breaker. LOL!

    The ones that get me are when other authors question why I can't just whip it out quicker. Some days are good, some aren't so good. Some are days where you want to write, it's a burning need, and distractions abound.

    I figure it all works in the end just like it's supposed to for that story.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  6. Hi Annie!

    Yeah, it's amazing just how much writers can relate to each other. We all have the same, yet slightly differen, things happening to us.

    Glad you're going to follow the blog. That means a lot to me.

    Lynn

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  7. Yeah for Nathaniel Hawthorne. That quote is amazing. Maybe Authors should put that quote in their intros. :) I can't imagine how hard it is. And not just the creativity, the writing or typing but all the research you have to do. Then your self promoting and your famililes. God Bless because there isn't a book I've read where I don't think how much work went into the book I just read. And I thank you.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  8. Carol,

    I love this quote as well. I think little things like that can keep a writer going.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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