1. Brazen boasts.
“I can write anything! 5,000 words a day? No problem! I can turn out a novel every month. 2 if I just work hard enough! I have a completely developed world, culture, and cast of characters. I’ve worked out every nuance of every moment of my story, back story, and forward story. I cannot fail to produce many books.” When you look around and see the horrid mass of “published” (self) books on sites like amazon, the ones where grammar is a foreign language and plot is a type of land parcel, you hold your head high knowing you are above all that.
2. Networking with aplomb
“I followed all of my favorite authors and editors on twitter, facebook, and google plus, and read their tumbler and blog posts frequently. I always have a witty comment or response to something they post, and occasionally they even write me back! I’m not famous yet, but I’m internet-famous! People who are going places kind of almost know me!”
3. And then you finish that first draft, eventually
“I feel a sense of accomplishment that you, the unwashed masses, probably can not fully appreciate. I’ve written this thing. It’s unformed, partly unfinished in parts, and largely just a placeholder for the real story I’m going to tell, but I spent a lot of time working on those first 70k words and you will relish it when it comes out. Eventually.”
4. Self realization
Taking on your first draft, you realize just how much is left to do. It’s daunting and overwhelming, and for a while the best course is to just sink your head under the covers and hide from it. None of it makes sense, the story has lost all meaning, your characters are flat, and by gosh, it isn’t nearly as perfect as it should be for just having been sprouted from your head. You are mortal. Writing is hard. Mortals writing are hard. You begin to realize that those folks in phase 2 that talked to you occasionally have either fallen off, stopped talking to you, or just given up on you. Then you have that cold moment of realization that they never knew who you were, just hitting reply filled in your name for them. Quite possibly, you begin to feel shunned by people that never even knew who you were to begin with.
5. Self loathing
You write a long blog post about the phases of the wannabe writer. This is it. When you look at those books you used to mock, you find that there were actually strata, and while the bottom layer may be pure muck, there are some floating to the top that are really worth reading. More importantly, the one thing all of them had that you missed – they finished.
6. Recovery
The last step is always the hardest. Because if you can make this far, if you can make it past the blog post, you will find yourself in a place where you can start fresh. You’ve learned the trials and troubles of the fireswamp, as they say, and are now ready to actually step out and write. You stand at the cusp, ready to tackle the second draft. Now is a good time to contemplate putting your words where your mouth has been and finishing that manuscript, send it out, and test your skills for real. You may consider dropping out or down on social media, focussing instead on what really matters – telling your story.
Related articles
- How Do They Do It? Writing Rituals Of Famous Authors (otherpublishing.wordpress.com)
- I’m an aspiring novelist who’s buying a house and having a baby. Seriously (theglobeandmail.com)
- What is a writer’s ‘natural’ temperament? (inventingrealityeditingservice.typepad.com)
