The Long And Winding Road
Paul Guyot is back in full force over at Murderati, and this time it's personal.
Just today (or tomorrow, I never know with all these bloody time zones), he put up an excellent post on the head games that us writers put ourselves through. Paul tackles subjects such as I'm Not Good Enough, I Can't Do This, and This Is How Those Other Guys Did It So I Have To As Well.
Putting it this way makes these mistakes seem ball-crushingly obvious, but it's amazing how many years it takes to work through the issues and come to those light-bulb-moment realisations that allow you to Get Back To Work, Write What You Want To Write, and Do It Your Way.
I suppose he doesn't need to be reminded that it took him four years to figure this out.
My long and winding road has been somewhat different, but also similar. I spent two years writing the first draft of a PI novel that had maybe only one good idea in it. I'd gone so far against the idea of writing to market that I'd written an entire novel that doesn't even interest me. And I know this because I've written five versions of a blurb for it.
The novel was also set up as a series and as I crawled towards those bittersweet words, THE END, I realised I didn't want to write a series at all. I tend to completely absorb myself in my latest interest and when that's over, I'm not happy until I've moved onto the next obsession. I'm sort of a serial monogamist that way. This kind of thinking doesn't lend itself to the idea of writing a series. That's just too much time spent on the same thing.
Having gone through the process of writing a novel and letting it go, I'm now far more aware of the time and effort it takes, and the path all that work follows. I'm half way through the first draft of another novel, one whose blurb would entice me to read it, and I have an idea for a follow-up. Something in the same vein, but completely unrelated.
I'm still a big baby in this world of writing, partly because I've spent so many years concentrating on music, forgetting all my voracious gobbling up of books in my childhood. The last two years have seen me correcting this and, at the same time, falling heavily for the world of crime fiction.
In that time, I've also taken off my crime fiction blinkers and opened my eyes to the worlds of the supernatural and (as Tribe puts it) the New Weird, worlds that have always attracted me. Thanks to writers like John Connolly, Sara Gran, Anne Frasier, Neil Gaiman, Charlie Huston, and Alexandra Sokoloff, I now have the courage to follow my desire.
And because it's what I really want to do, everything I write will be set in Australia, regardless of what anyone thinks the market wants. I'd rather contribute to the body of work here than be just another drop in the pond over the other side of the pond.
Yes, it's a long and winding road, but I'm loving every minute of it.
6 comments:
It's amazing to me that folks still try to dictate the market other than "good writing/fresh and new" (to paraphrase Miss Snark). Sounds like a good way to keep new writers out of the market. :P Do exactly what you want... you will find a way to make it work!
I think that's because there are a lot more people who want to have written than want to write.
Screw the market. We can't predict what people will or won't want at any given time, anyway. So, what's the point?
And don't feel bad about how long it's taken to come to the realization of what you want to write and how you want to write it.
The stuff I'm working on started back in 2002 and went through so goddamn many voices, styles, tenses, and points of view I lost count.
It wasn't until two years ago that I figured out how I wanted it to sound before I could far enough through it to keep it going.
And it's still not done.
publishers don't like to break new ground, so it's always nice when you can find someone who's successfully doing something you want to do. in the middle of writing pale immortal i stopped at once upon a crime in minneapolis and was telling the owner about my project. i was worried because i didn't know of anybody doing anything like that, and i wasn't sure how my publisher or readers would respond. gary vanished for a moment, then came back with bad men by john connolly. at first i didn't want to read it because it sounded too similar to my plot. but i finally did -- and of course loved it. and it gave me a way to defend and justify my own book at my publishing house.
It's good to hear your perspective on this, Anne. When it comes time for me to put my work out there, I can use you and all the others as ammunition.
It sounds like you're in a really good head space and you have come a long way since you started. I am really proud of you babe and inspired.
x
Christa, when I say 'what the market wants', I suppose I don't have any particular person in mind. Just the faceless conglomeration of all the things I've read about publishing, agents, and genre.
Stephen, I didn't realise it was that long in the making. But you're right, it doesn't matter how you got there or where you think you're supposed to go. You just have to keep going where your own muse takes you.
Cheers, Mary. It's going to be a great year methinks.
Post a Comment