Read What You Love

If you’re a writer, I’m assuming you’re also a reader. While there are multitudes of readers who aren’t writers, I can’t imagine there are writers who aren’t readers. This means you can lean into your reader-self as part of your writing. Reading is essential to good writing (even if it’s reading bad writing—at least you’ll know what to avoid!). 

What to read? Whatever interests you. Seriously. If it’s beach-read romances, or heavy philosophical tomes, so be it. Popular advice is to read in your genre, which you’re most likely doing anyway—if you like it enough to write it, you probably love it enough to read it. But even if you haven’t read widely in your genre, that’s okay, too. (Remember there are no “rules” for writing. The only rule is to find what works for you.) Too often we’re inundated with “shoulds” about how to prepare for our own writing, but there is no one right answer, so if you want to read sci-fi but write historical fiction, go for it. Simply reading stories—any stories—will help. Study them for characterization, theme, plot, setting, or any other elements you’re most curious to improve. 

Which means that when you settle in with a good book, you’re actively working on your craft. Isn’t this writing life great? 😊

Own Your Role

On a recent trip to Greece, I visited Atlantis Books on the island of Santorini. On a cliff, overlooking the Aegean Sea, the bookstore is a honeycomb of cave-like rooms, small, yet charming. Whenever I visit an independent bookstore, especially when I travel, I look for books I normally wouldn’t buy at home. In this case, I searched out English translations of famous Greek novels, then poked through some classics as well as their small selection of books on literary theory, an esoteric interest of mine. When I went up to the cash, the clerk/owner perused my choices. “Impressive!” he told me. “You’re our customer of the day!” 

Not gonna lie, that made me feel pretty good. In fact, it made me bold enough to tell him I’m a writer, and I’m always searching out new ideas in unexpected books. I don’t do that often—open up that I’m an author to booksellers. But that led to an impassioned discussion about books, philosophy and ideas. It was inspiring. 

Which made me question why I don’t always speak up about my role as a writer. In a bookstore, of all places, I’m going to meet like-minded people, who could have a lot to share. 

Why not consider doing that, too? Even if you haven’t published (yet), or are still working on your first draft of your first book, you have valuable insight into a conversation about books, and you may learn a lot, too. It’s not easy to own that role. But it’s worth it. 

Focus on your Actual Goal

We often conflate two very distinct, separate goals: 

• To write
• To get published

One is fully within our control. We work at our craft; we improve our skill. We get better. We write. 

The other is fully outside our control. Even if you query for a literary agent for traditional publishing, even if you apply for hybrid publishing, even if you self-publish (which sounds like it should be in your control), it’s not—because what we actually mean when we say we want to get published is that we want recognition (i.e: sales, awards, readers, etc.) We want status. And status is defined as the relative social or professional standing of someone. Only other people can bestow status on you. You cannot engineer it for yourself. Even you have the best marketing campaign, you’re still dependent on other people picking up your message and running with it. 

But this is actually a good thing—because the pressure is off. Instead, all you have to do with write the best book you can. Yes, of course, put it out there and see what happens. But after that? It’s out of your hands. 

Isn’t that a relief? 🙂

Writing Is Never Easy

Does writing ever get easier? 

Yes. 

And no. 

Yes, you get better with every story, novel, draft, line, sentence. Yes, you improve with every effort, minute, hour, week, resource you put into your craft. 

Then you start a new novel. And you’re like, wow, really?? Am I not supposed to be better than this?

Writing is not muscle memory. It’s not like riding a bike. Sure you understand the mechanics in the second or subsequent time, but for every story, there are new characters who have new internal desires and new misbeliefs and new plot points to challenge them—and maybe they insist on a new tone, a new atmosphere—maybe even a new genre, or a new age-group. 

And then you feel as much like a novice as you always have. 

That, in fact, is the pleasure of the writing life. It’s also the challenge, absolutely.  but it’s also the simultaneous thrill and fear of starting again.

What you do have is more confidence. You did it once (or twice or more); you can do it again. Follow the writing process, the one that you discovered worked for you, and then trust yourself. It’s not easy, but not impossible. You’ve already proven that. 

And if you’re still on your first draft of your first project? Then be comforted: everyone else is still in the same boat  🙂

The Dangers of Comparison

I recently read an interview with a critically acclaimed author, in the form of headings: 

• My earliest reading memory
• My favourite book growing up
• The book that changed me as a teenager
• The writers who changed my mind
• The book that made me want to be a writer
• The book or author I came back to
• The book I reread 
• The book I could never read again 
• The book I discovered later in life
• The book I am currently reading

I thought about how I’d answer these questions—and then I gave up. Because, wow, none of what might have been my answers would have measured up to the lists of classics and literary authors this writer answered with—many of whom I’d never heard of.  

I felt small.

It’s not the article, nor the author’s doing. It was me, comparing myself to her. It was me thinking that since I’d never been exposed to the same literary background as her, then I’d never achieve the same kind of literary success as her.

It’s a ridiculous conclusion; I work hard at my craft; I study and read and write, and even if my answers to these questions would make an English lit prof shudder, it doesn’t mean I can’t write well. 

As writers, we’re good comparing ourselves to others and deeming ourselves inferior. 

But our own voices matter. No matter our writing and reading pedigree, our stories matter.

Remember Your Progress

When I was in the middle of writing the first draft of one of my novels, I stumbled across some old brainstorming notes. I hesitated to read them. I was scared that I’d remember the naïve optimism I’d had. The story had been full of possibilities back then. Eventually I’d chosen one of those directions. I knew that my notes would barely resemble the story on the page. 

That’s good! A story should evolve. That’s part of the writing process. But I worried I’d be nostalgic for those early days when anything might have been possible. What if my original ideas were actually better than the direction I’d chosen? What if, somewhere along the brainstorming line, I’d taken the wrong path? Should I start over? 

Then I read the notes. I could see similarities—like one can see genetic connections with grandparents—and I sighed with relief. The notes were all over the place. The limitlessness I’d been retroactively glorifying had, in fact, been a problem. There was no focus (not that there should have been at that point) but re-reading the notes reminded me how far I’d already come. In fact, instead of wishing I could go back, re-reading my notes reinvigorated me to keep writing forward. 

So if you do have old notes, dig them out, to remind yourself just how much you have accomplished! And if you’re still making those notes enjoy the process! Soon enough you can be nostalgic about what you’re working on now. Either way, there’s progress.

Count Every Minute

On a recent road trip, with my husband driving, I was staring out the window. 

“What are you thinking, Jen?” he asked to make conversation. 

“Nothing,” I replied, my mind blank. 

“Really? I thought you said you’re always planning your next book, or scene.”

Huh. I actually did say that. And, when I did focus on my mind, I realized I had in fact been thinking about my work-in-progress. Except, I’m always thinking about it, or my characters, or spinning another story in my imagination, so I hadn’t even noticed I was doing it—not consciously. I love to let my mind wander, to have my subconscious work on those thorny issues, and play around in my imagination, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s so natural for me now that I hadn’t even realized that was what I was doing. 

I’m not suggesting you have to pick up this habit. What I am suggesting is that you give yourself permission to count those times you are doing it as your writing time. Since creativity comes from imagination, we need to strength that muscle. Letting your mind play in your imagination is good training. You’d never run a marathon without training, so why not treat your “dreaming” time in the same way? 

Which means, that I got a good solid, two hours of writing time on that leg of our trip. 😊

Own What You Know

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability in a specific area overestimate their competence, while those with high ability may underestimate their skills. This is because those lacking expertise don’t know what they don’t know and lack any self-awareness to recognize their shortcomings and those who are educated in their field assume if they know it, everyone must know it. 

If you’re studying your writing craft, then you’re most likely in the second category. You may have a lot to learn, yes, but you’re aware you have a lot to learn. 

Which means you do know more about writing than most people! Often, we compare ourselves to the award-winners and bestsellers. We think we don’t know anything because we haven’t seen the same kind of commercial success. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but it eats away at our own confidence and, hence, motivation. 

Be proud of what you know already! Congratulate yourself on what you’ve already learned. Depending on the source, statistics suggest that more than 80 per cent of people say they want to write a book. Some sources say as low as three percent actually do. But you are! (Yes, studying how to write is part of the process). So yeah, you know more than most. Own it. Flaunt it. Then write the best damn book you can.  

Avoiding Procrastination

Procrastination and me are old friends. In my journalism days, I lived by the mantra, “that’s what the last minute is for.” Great if you’re on a deadline, but terrible if you’re a writer and, well, the stakes are low. 

Accountability from others is one answer: a book coach (which is the only reason I finished my novels and therefore became one myself!) a critique partner, a family member or friend demanding to read your pages. 

But how to instill accountability in yourself? A) by not beating yourself up over missed writing time (even if, yeah, it’s your fault) and B) by starting slowly to ease yourself out of your procrastination habits.

Here’s what I do: I sit at my computer. I pull up my work-in-progress (or blank page—sometimes the same thing). That’s it. I don’t force myself to write, but I do practice not getting distracted. I don’t go online or check social media. I don’t do the laundry or start dinner. And if I get through my hour (or 10 minutes or whatever) without distraction, I count that as success! Because it turns out when I force myself to confront the daunting task of writing, I’m reminded why I love it. Then, it’s much easier to just do it.  

Finding the Encouragement You Need

At the gym, I was pushing myself hard, using heavier weights than I normally did. My efforts weren’t pretty, but I was doing it!

Until the coach came along and told me to use less weight. 

I was crushed. I’d decided to challenge myself, and instead of support, I got the message: You can’t do this. 

If he’d been concerned about me hurting myself, perhaps I could understand, but his reasons made it worse: “We can’t wait on you to finish”. (Note: we waited on other people to finish when they pushed themselves.)

I thought about quitting right then and there. There are a million gyms; I could find another place to work out.

But I decided to go back one more time. And that time, when I tried the heavier weight (because yeah, I was still gonna try!), I heard a cheer of encouragement from another person in the class. This meant more to me because she didn’t need to do that. It wasn’t her job. Still, she took a few seconds out of her own workout to offer me the encouragement I needed. 

When we write, we might run into people like the coach, who, inadvertently or not, discourage us. But it’s no reason to give up because, as I found out, there are plenty of other people out there cheering for you. And if you can’t easily find one around you? Email me. I’ll be that person for you. It’s my favourite part of my job.