“Hard work is the yeast that raises the dough.”
I saw this quote and thought, “That sums things up perfectly.” You see, I’ve been working with a close friend who started writing just over a year ago, and yesterday she told me she was done. Maybe she’d try again later, but she she’d given herself a year to write a book, and that year was over and she hasn’t met her goal so she was done.
To my way of thinking she had met her goal. She has written a book. A 60k novel. In fact, she’s also re-written a couple of times, and written several short stories as well. While none of them were quite publishable, I saw promise in what she’d shown me. And, she’d told me she really enjoyed writing.
Last night I went see the latest Underworld with one of my neighbours. We’re both movie nuts so this is something we do often, and we always end up talking about other things as well. She’s a writer of sorts for her day job (writing website content and promotional materials and stuff like that) and she asked about how I got into writing erotica. Was it something I’d always wanted to do, was it always erotica that I wanted to write or did I have a yen for other genres…that sort of thing. As I told her the story of how I got into it, I was thinking about how easy it felt when I first started writing. I just sat down, determined I was going to achieve this career, and I wrote.
I never thought about how hard it was or how easy it was. I never thought about did I have enough description or were my characters developed enough. These things didn’t really enter into my mind, most likely because I never really took classes or anything that focussed these things.
Now when I sit down to write all these fill up my head to the point that a blank screen can freeze me up for a day, or more, if I’m not careful. I worry about if it will sell, if it’s been done before, is it what readers expect from Sasha White? Things like that….and writing has become hard.
While I’ve never been a flowery “Oh I just love writing and would do it even if I was never published” type of person, I now think back to when I looked forward to sitting down to write.
For some people education and knowledge helps build their confidence, and for others, it can crumple it. Education and knowledge has made writing more difficult for me…and it seems maybe for my friend as well. But in my mind, I think the thing that makes it most difficult for her is that at her core, she doesn’t believe in herself…and I really wish I could show her that she’s so much better and has so much more promise than she could image, but I have no idea how to do that.
This, more than anything has made it clear to me that you have to be strong to be a writer. Talent is good, but talent alone isn’t enough to make it. Perseverance and hard work are things you can’t back away from if you want this career.
Hard Work
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Ah yes, I often think back fondly to the time when I first started writing, when I still had a ‘day’ job. I used to race home after a full days work, desperate to get to the keyboard and write and write and write. It used to pour out of me, and in my innocence, I thought what I was writing was wonderful. Not great literature, but I *believed* in it and I didn’t second guess myself.
Cut to today, over twenty five years later. I sort of know what I’m doing… but I doubt everything. And the more I know, the more I become aware of what I *don’t* know. And what will always be beyond me.
And yet, I carry on. Striving and struggling to ‘get there’. Maybe not so much strong as just downright stubborn! LOL
Hang in there, mate!
Thats exactly it, isn’t it, Portia? Nice to know I;m not alone. 🙂
Self discipline is required too. If you want it bad enough, you’ll do it. You’ll be stubborn, you’ll fight, cry, bitch, whine, piss and moan, get drunk, get angry, throw things and basically act like a nutcase.
You of course are dealing with emotions of the characters in many of those situations. But it’s not an easy job. It requires a thick skin. Determination.
I’ve spent the better part of 12 years as a writer not making the kind of money I’d hoped when I first started and I’ll admit, it wasn’t totally the industry’s fault. Part of it had to do with marketing, part of it my knowledge. Learn. Grow. Learn ore. Grow further. Fight for it if you want it, Goddess knows I have. You’ll be fighting yourself the most, and the hardest.
But my hard work has paid off. Better royalty checks, better writing opportunities, two agents, a publicist, a radio show, an assistant. I’m doing well and I’m blessed for all that I’ve earned.
IF she wants it, she can have it. She need only get up again.
Oh, did I mention I’m a man writing in a Female dominated genre? Yeah, I’m special 😉
You are special, Sascha! Thanks for sharing.
I would ask your friend if she’s expecting too much of herself – after all she wouldn’t expect to be a skilled craftsman in any field after a year of effort. I would also tell her that it takes lots of work to become a writer – a million words is what many say. and I would ask her if this was a passion of hers or something she saw her friend doing that seemed possible for her.
writing isn’t for sissies. I know your friend isn’t a sissy. But if she doesn’t have the drive or spark she won’t be able to keep going. I’d encourage her to find her true path – writing or not.
be good Sasha.
Yeah, she’s definitely not a sissy, she can kick my ass. LOL I’ve just had so many friends start and stop writing in the past two years, that I’m also starting to wonder if I’m just too hard on them.
A couple are still at it, but I am a wondering. LOL