People Not Taking Writing Seriously, Part 1: Other Writers
I gotta talk about something that I encounter on a daily basis from both writers and non-writers: not taking the industry seriously.
This presents itself in many forms. Today, I need to gripe about the writers.
Let's be clear, I mean writers who want to be published, not innocent hobby writers who want to have fun, share with friends, enjoy some fanfiction, and generally have no expectations for their work. I'm talking about when someone decides they have a story to tell, sit down to write it out, and then expects some publisher to fall at their feet. All of this comes from personal experience and many, many conversations with aspiring writers. Consider it an open letter to all those I've met who are stagnating in their writing careers, yet refuse to listen to the advice given by many (not just me! a dozen other people might have tried to get the same points across!).
"I revised it once, I'm good to go."
- A lot of people start writing because they thought of an exciting story they're dying to tell. A diligent few keep at it enough to churn out a whole draft from start to finish. This is tons of work, and even getting that far is a huge achievement. The trouble is... when it comes to publishable, professional-quality writing, that's only a first step. The enormity of looking back at that novel you just wrote and having to rewrite the whole thing is understandably intimidating. It's hard to gut chapters, alter characters, re-envision the ending. So plenty of people get around this by... ignoring it. Make a few line edits, then insist anything else would be changing the "heart" of the story and it's fine how it is. Well, it isn't. If you understood pacing and structure that perfectly for your first draft of your first novel ever, you are a savant. If you're not willing to relocate a scene or change a character, the story will never sing.
"My husband is my beta reader."
- Similarly, one friend or SO who "writes a lot for work" or something is not enough to give your final draft the stamp of approval. I've met self-published authors who have literally only one person who acts as critiquer, beta reader, sensitivity reader, and editor all in one. Or, not much better, the small circle of writer-friends who have no input from outside that circle, and all cheer each other on with "Your book is so awesome!" and nothing else. Other eyes are really important; writing, or at least publishing, doesn't happen in a vacuum (as much as we like to be hermits who never leave our house). Personally, I think writers need to be part of multiple communities, including critiquing websites or services, as well as smaller long-term writing groups. Otherwise, there's no diversity in perspectives, or the experience level of advice you get.
"You just don't understand the story."
- All the critiquers in the world will be of no use to an author who gets defensive about every comment. Making excuses about why things don't need to be changed, and how the reader just "missed the point" or "wasn't patient enough" (it's explained in three chapters, sheesh!), only alienates readers while doing nothing at all for your novel or your skill as a writer. Guess what? Readers aren't wrong about how they feel. They may misinterpret things, misread things, forget things--but if they're confused or bored, they're confused or bored, no matter how wrong you think they are to be so. It's not going to help you to pretend they're not.
"Reading? What?"
- This one baffles me to no end. Classical musicians listen to symphonies. Chefs taste their dishes. Why would anyone think you could be a successful writer without reading widely? This seems super obvious, yet, I swear to god, I have met many, many wanna-be writers who literally say they don't like to read, don't have the attention span to read, or haven't read a book since high school. It's defended by pointing at inspiration drawn from movies, television, or video games. I'm not even kidding. For some reason, people legitimately convince themselves that they can learn everything they need to know to write a good novel without ever actually reading other novels.
"It would be nice if..."
- I think it's important to note that you can't really straddle "hobby writer" and "professional writer." I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say, "It would be nice to publish and make money, but I'm not really trying." Nothing wrong with this, except for one important point: publishing does not fall in your lap. The "it happens if it happens" isn't going to happen with a lackadaisical come-what-may attitude. You have to work really. hard. to get an agent let alone a book deal. It takes time, dedication, interaction with the community, and awareness of the industry. I have nothing at all against hobby writers! But please, please, please don't act like a book deal may or may not drop on you out of nowhere. If you want to be serious, take it seriously.
Come back next week for more ranting about misconceptions from non-writers!
This presents itself in many forms. Today, I need to gripe about the writers.
Let's be clear, I mean writers who want to be published, not innocent hobby writers who want to have fun, share with friends, enjoy some fanfiction, and generally have no expectations for their work. I'm talking about when someone decides they have a story to tell, sit down to write it out, and then expects some publisher to fall at their feet. All of this comes from personal experience and many, many conversations with aspiring writers. Consider it an open letter to all those I've met who are stagnating in their writing careers, yet refuse to listen to the advice given by many (not just me! a dozen other people might have tried to get the same points across!).
"I revised it once, I'm good to go."
- A lot of people start writing because they thought of an exciting story they're dying to tell. A diligent few keep at it enough to churn out a whole draft from start to finish. This is tons of work, and even getting that far is a huge achievement. The trouble is... when it comes to publishable, professional-quality writing, that's only a first step. The enormity of looking back at that novel you just wrote and having to rewrite the whole thing is understandably intimidating. It's hard to gut chapters, alter characters, re-envision the ending. So plenty of people get around this by... ignoring it. Make a few line edits, then insist anything else would be changing the "heart" of the story and it's fine how it is. Well, it isn't. If you understood pacing and structure that perfectly for your first draft of your first novel ever, you are a savant. If you're not willing to relocate a scene or change a character, the story will never sing.
"My husband is my beta reader."
- Similarly, one friend or SO who "writes a lot for work" or something is not enough to give your final draft the stamp of approval. I've met self-published authors who have literally only one person who acts as critiquer, beta reader, sensitivity reader, and editor all in one. Or, not much better, the small circle of writer-friends who have no input from outside that circle, and all cheer each other on with "Your book is so awesome!" and nothing else. Other eyes are really important; writing, or at least publishing, doesn't happen in a vacuum (as much as we like to be hermits who never leave our house). Personally, I think writers need to be part of multiple communities, including critiquing websites or services, as well as smaller long-term writing groups. Otherwise, there's no diversity in perspectives, or the experience level of advice you get.
"You just don't understand the story."
- All the critiquers in the world will be of no use to an author who gets defensive about every comment. Making excuses about why things don't need to be changed, and how the reader just "missed the point" or "wasn't patient enough" (it's explained in three chapters, sheesh!), only alienates readers while doing nothing at all for your novel or your skill as a writer. Guess what? Readers aren't wrong about how they feel. They may misinterpret things, misread things, forget things--but if they're confused or bored, they're confused or bored, no matter how wrong you think they are to be so. It's not going to help you to pretend they're not.
"Reading? What?"
- This one baffles me to no end. Classical musicians listen to symphonies. Chefs taste their dishes. Why would anyone think you could be a successful writer without reading widely? This seems super obvious, yet, I swear to god, I have met many, many wanna-be writers who literally say they don't like to read, don't have the attention span to read, or haven't read a book since high school. It's defended by pointing at inspiration drawn from movies, television, or video games. I'm not even kidding. For some reason, people legitimately convince themselves that they can learn everything they need to know to write a good novel without ever actually reading other novels.
"It would be nice if..."
- I think it's important to note that you can't really straddle "hobby writer" and "professional writer." I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say, "It would be nice to publish and make money, but I'm not really trying." Nothing wrong with this, except for one important point: publishing does not fall in your lap. The "it happens if it happens" isn't going to happen with a lackadaisical come-what-may attitude. You have to work really. hard. to get an agent let alone a book deal. It takes time, dedication, interaction with the community, and awareness of the industry. I have nothing at all against hobby writers! But please, please, please don't act like a book deal may or may not drop on you out of nowhere. If you want to be serious, take it seriously.
Come back next week for more ranting about misconceptions from non-writers!
Comments
Post a Comment