Pressures of Writing

Why am I writing about this?  For many reasons.  We put way, way, way too much pressure on ourselves as wannabe authors.  We're already writers, right?  If you've settled down with your computer and written several thousand words for the pure heck of it, you're a writer.  To me, being an author is a completely different thing.  When my friends ask me about my craft, I say I write.  I don't say I'm an author.  I feel that has to be earned.  I have to be published to be an author.  So, I'm not yet an author.

Back to the whole pressure thing though.  We put pressure on ourselves to write something someone else will like.  Important but not why you should write.  You should write because you have a story you have to tell.  You should write because you simply must to be complete.  When Stephenie Meyer wrote Twilight, nobody was doing the vampire thing.  Buffy was winding down and vampires were thought to be so over.  She wrote the book because she dreamed it and "for fun."

We pressure ourselves to have a business plan.  This is something that admittedly freaks me out.  I am not a business person.  I am not good at selling anything, especially not my written pride and joy.  I need someone else for that.  Someone objective to help me, leading to my next point.

We pressure ourselves to get an agent, like now.  This is something I think about everyday.  How to get myself an agent.  Write a good book.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Hopefully, I've done that.  Hopefully.

We pressure ourselves to have a Twitter account, or Facebook page, or Tumblr, or website, or a blog.  This kinda goes back to the business plan thing.  I will freely admit, I dreaded this part but I have thoroughly enjoyed this blog.

We put pressure on ourselves to write the perfect manuscript, then the perfect query and perfect synopsis (if that's even possible).  I spend an inordinate amount of time writing query letters.  Writing them, scrapping them and rewriting them again.  They never seem just right.

I could go on but the point is this.  We put all this pressure on ourselves to write when really we should listen to the wise Mrs. Meyer.  We should write for fun.  Writing is the most rewarding (besides having beautiful children and marrying a wonderful man) thing I've ever done.  I need to focus on that and stop letting it put pressure on me.  After all, I do it to escape.  To avoid the stressors of the real world.  Moral:  Chill out, Ms. Author!

Writing: What I've Learned So Far

It's hard for me to imagine but I've been doing this for five years now.  When I say five years, I mean daily.  I write something everyday.  A little less than five years since I told my husband, "Hey, I think I want to be a writer."  Four years since I let a friend read my very first manuscript.  Thank you, Amy.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long yet it also seems like it's been forever.  I used to write as a child.  Make up characters and stories in my head.  So, in a sense I've always written, just not necessarily on paper or from beginning to end.

As I've shared here before, I've also done a lot of research during this last five years.  Research on agents and publishing.  Research on technique and trends.  Research refreshing myself on grammar and structure.  Through all this, I've learned a lot but I'm not sure I really needed to.  (What?)

Let me clarify.  If you want to become published, whether traditionally or electronically, you need to do  a lot of research to protect yourself.  Unfortunately, there are a multitude of ways to take advantage of would be authors.  Educate yourself on all the inner workings of the industry.  I've blogged a lot about this topic and sites to help you.  Use them, please.  On this, I believe wholeheartedly in research.

Grammar and structure.  You need to remind yourself of the basics.  Its or it's.  Lie or lay (this one still gives me fits!).  Even, compliment or complement.  I could go on about this forever.  Formatting dialogue was another topic I really had to brush up on.  Nothing is more of a turn off to agents or publishers than poor grammar.

Here's where I think I should stop with the research.  I'll tell you why.  I've been doing a great deal on POV lately.  First person or third person?  Single POV or multi POV?  There are a lot of articles and blog entries out there telling you which one is right or best but when it all comes down to the truth it's really a matter of preference.  There is no right or wrong way.  Go to a book store one day and read through various works on the shelf.  You will see everything, and I mean everything.  Third person limited is probably the most common but not necessarily.  There are a lot of variations now and sometimes even in the same book.  I just read a Beth Harbison book recently where the character's current self is written in first person while chapters devoted to her much younger self are written in third person.  It worked and took me several pages to even realize what she was doing.

If you let it, all the research will drive you crazy.  One thing you read will make you doubt your WIP.  Do I have too many POVs?  Would it be better in first person?  Should I add an omniscient narrator?  Not bad questions but ones you need to work out yourself by deciding what best fits the story, not to please other people.  Another thing you'll read will make you think you're on the right track.  Still, it's all about writing the best manuscript you can and, if you want to be published, finding someone else who likes it.

Probably the most important thing I've learned?  Drum roll, please.  Keep writing.  Gasp.  What's that you say?  Too simple.  Well, you'd be correct.  There is no better way to make yourself excellent at your craft than to practice.  You were right, Dad.  Practice makes perfect.  I am a much better writer five years later.  That I know for sure. 

I know there are others our there who've been doing this a lot longer than me and still probably unpublished.  I would love to hear from you.  What have you learned too?