My First Rejection

I submitted 3 chapters of my manuscript, The World According to Boring John, together with synopsis and covering letter to Bluemoose Books, quite some time ago. And, two months later (I think) I received a rejection, penned by Kevin Duffy himself. They didn't want my book! They had enough on their plate for both 2008 and 2009, apparently - fancy that!

My first rejection was a bit deflating, I have to admit, but I guess rejection gets easier each time it happens.

And I really haven't tried very hard to get my book published (as you can tell from the lack of blog posts, here). In fact, feedback from Bluemoose Books - any feedback - was welcomed.

Now all I need to work out is whether it was my book that wasn't good enough or my synopsis and covering letter...

PS I got my first acceptance letter soon after though! :-) (No, that should be :-( )

PPS And yesterday, after I read this piece by Randy Ingermarson on describing my book in one sentence, I decided to go back to the drawing board before trying to get my book published with anyone else (though I did start doing some research on Amazon)

And, finally...

Well it's been a long time since I posted anything on this 'how to write a novel' blog. And that's mainly because of two reasons:

1) I haven't done very much in the last couple of months regarding my book - I was just glad to get it finished.

2) And when I did turn my attentions to getting my book published - writing a synopsis and a covering letter - I found the whole exercise incredibly difficult. I wrote thousands of words probably just trying to express what my book was about. And when I succeeded I found out that it wasn't the type of info. a book synopsis requires.

Anyway, I've now written my synopsis (and covering letter) and will send them to two publishers tomorrow.

Publisher 1: Bluemoose Books Ltd - this publishing company specialises in first-time writers who have something different to say, AND they're based in Hebden Bridge where the beginnings of my 'book' was first inspired. I simply have to submit my book to them.

Publisher 2: Athena Press - call it syncrhonicity if you want, but I just discovered a writer yesterday called Ha, Spirit who's motivation for writing matches my own. His first book - Letters to Myself - is not a novel, but it discusses similar issues to my book. That's good enough for me - Athena Press it is for publisher #2.

And we shall see what we shall see, as they say!

WRITER'S LOG: Jan 21st, 2008

I wrote this on a scrap of paper at 4pm, today:

"My mind has gone numb today, numb to words. And I have another hour to do. Another several days revision to do, actually."

It was quite strange. After spending a whole morning and a few hours this afternoon working on the latest version of my manuscript my brain seemed to seize up, literally. It was quite discomfiting. I really feel like I'm running out of steam when it comes to making further revisions to my writing. And that's a depressing thought.

I'm also having serious doubts as to the seriousness of what I've spent a whole year working on. (This was not helped by all the errors I found in the latest draft - see below.)

Hopefully, these doubts will pass. (Today is meant to be the saddest day of the year, after all - who knows these things?) And, hopefully, the experience I've gained will help me write something serious or proper the next time.

Let's hope so.

--

WRITER'S LOG: Jan 18th, 2008

I can't believe how many 'errors' I'm finding in the latest draft of my book(*). It's so disheartening. I also can't believe how tiring it is to find the right words. And the last thing I can't is the fact that I can't do this - go through the manuscript, and revise - whilst sitting in this quiet library. I have to be able to read my manuscript out loud, for one thing, and I don't think I can work in a library for another.

So I'm going to stop. I'll go to Leeds early instead, I think, and find something else to do before I go to the cinema at 7.55pm - it's 2.37pm, now. (I'm off to watch the latest Coen Brothers' movie, No Country For an Old Man - hmm, how similar that title is to old man Kurt Vonnegut's last book, Man Without a Country.)

It's going to take me at least one week to revise this manuscript now, for sure, and even then it won't be done. (I'll have to check my revisions - another few days, at least.) I should have finished writing it by now, and be now looking for someone to publish. And I should be reading novels again after my self-imposed ban of not reading anything fictional since starting my book in January 2007. I so want to read some fiction, too, to get ideas for my next book.

Note to self: I MUST GET THIS BOOK FINISHED BY JAN 29, 2008! I must.

Nobody said it was going to be easy, I guess. Bloody annoying, though. Wish the first few pages weren't so awkward (and lame) but then (maybe) they have to be - first line jitters and all that. Vamos!

* I found 50 errors in the first 5 or so pages.

Revision process

Or, how many words can you rewrite per day?

First, an apology. The last month I have been busy finishing my second draft of my first book. (Is it a novel? Maybe.) And, once the second draft was finished the last thing I wanted to do was write about my writing here on this blog, hence the month absence. (I am keeping a diary of my writing 'progress' on paper, actually. It may well even make it into my book. We shall see.)

Anyway, I now have time to add some thoughts about writing, specifically the process of revising, rewriting, reworking.

Initially, I read the whole book after a few weeks away and took some notes. I noted what I liked, what I didn't like, and what needed to be added and what needed to be moved. There were highs and lows in this process, but I'm still here so ultimately I believe in what I'm trying to write.

Sotoday I have started to re-work, revise, polish, hone. (At least I hope I have started to do that.) Surprisingly, or maybe it's no surprise, I'm taking much longer to revise my words than I thought I would. I thought I could easily rework 5 to 10 pages per day, but today I have just managed 2 pages. The thing is, I'm not trying to do a Martin Amis here, and be oh-so-precious with my words. My language is simple and there are absolutely no darlings to be murdered! But still, it's hard going. 2 Pages is a bit pathetic.

I can see that I will need a different mental attitude to the one I had whilst writing down my words in the first place. Much, much more concentration is required. This is interesting, to me, and I guess part of the learning-to-write process. I will adjust my mental attitude accordingly, and quickly.

So, anyway, it got me thinking about word-count; i.e. how many words per day was good, in terms of revising. I like setting myself targets but I have no idea, right now, that's for sure.

My estimate of my book being finished by end of October has now been revised, however, to end of December (if I'm lucky!)

Is this procrastination?

I know I should be writing, but it really does feel important that I

• Create my writing environment, first (I'm putting a table in my main bedroom and away from the office in my second).
• Go to Ikea again* to get suitable furniture for above writing space
• Tidy my office moving any writing-related books from there to my my new writing space

And, finally, I have to

• Go through all my notes, in search of writing ideas that might just be useful

Is this the equivalent of doing a spring clean in the house, or of reorganising my clothes by colour rather than by type of item, or of reading one more book for inspiration?

Or, is it a necessary process of preparing for change, of preparing to write a first novel?

After all, I still don't know exactly what my book is going to be about, except that it is, without doubt, going to be something different. (I have several normal writing ideas lined up for next year and the year after that. I do hope, though, that writing something different doesn't put me off writing something conventional the next time because a) I have a taste for the odd, now or b) that my experiment failed so badly that I never want to try and write a novel again.)

I am going to be running before I can walk, with my first writing project, for sure. And that is most unlike me. I guess that's what's good about change - doing things differently.

And I keep telling myself that I am not writing a novel right now, but a book; it is simply necessary for me to learn to write by writing, and this is how I choose to write.

(*) Going to Ikea twice in the same year is almost unheard of, let alone twice in the same week!

Procrastincation and fear

I know I'm procrastinating at the moment, almost fearful that I will get my 'bid idea' and then I'll have to begin. Some of my procrastination is actually just getting ready (I've started re-reading Nick Daws' How to write a book quickly course - see quotation below) whilst the rest of it is... er, doing something else.

Still, I'd rather procrastinate now and get it out of my system than be blighted half-way through writing the first draft. (Spoken like a true procrastinator! :-) )

I know I'm fearful too.

What if it's rubbish?

What if I've nothing to say?

What if what I say is unimportant, of little value?

Why did it take you so long to write?

Etc.

Hmm. Fear can cast a powerful spell, indeed. I can already imagine the people who will be first to scoff at my efforts.

Facing these fears is part of the battle. A battle that continues however many novels one starts to write, I'm sure. Yes.

So let's finish this 'doing something else' blog entry with these comforting words, taken from Nick Daws' course. You're never too old, Nick says, to write your first novel...

"Indeed, older people have a big advantage when it comes to writing. Even if they have led relatively uneventful lives*, they still have a huge reservoir of experiences and memories they can draw on to add color and depth to their writing."

* The life inside my mind has been far from uneventful.

Today's The Day

Today is the day that I start to write my novel.

Well, okay, today is the day that I start to make space to write my novel. Space means time, energy, ideas and commitment. I would like to write my first thousand words today, I would, but I am still unsure about what to write about. Vague ideas include writing about a writer writing his first novel (introspective, moi?) and beginning to live again as he does so. Then there's writing about angels. Then there's writing about one particular angel - the healer, somewhat cursed by her ability to heal those in emotional (or psychological) pain. Hmmm.

So today I'm going to:

• write this blog entry;
  
• I'm going to read much more of Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake;
  
• I'm going to look over the notes I took during the Arvon writing course (I might even drive to Hebden Bridge to rekindle the inspiration I felt at the time);
  
• and I might start going through the Write Quickly ebook again - if I follow the advice in this ebook then I should have something written in the next twenty eight days.

Writer's write. Right?

Well, this is a start.

I don't feel ready at all, but I've committed to beginning in January and beginning in January is what I will do. A novel does not begin with the opening line; it begins with an idea and with a commitment to fully develop that idea. Clearly, I still need to promote one of my many ideas to 'best idea' and then flesh it out. (There will be little time for flesh, I feel.)

It's better to start somewhere than to wait until starting feels right. It's not as if I haven't been waiting for over twenty years as it is.

So, I've started. Today. (Hip hip hooray!)

One good thing, though. I think I've found my muse: Kurt Vonnegut, no less. I very much like Vonnegut's style and ideas - they feel much more in line with my own than, say, Martin Amis or Richard Forde. Vonnegut does metafiction and omniscient point of view, but it's all done in an understated way. Martin Amis (in London Fields), on the other hand, feels to me like the virtuoso violinist instructing the beginner. "Too good, Martin, too good."

More importantly, however, for this writer, "Not me, Martin, not me.'

I will never be Kurt Vonnegut. But that's fine by me. And I'm sure Kurt (and Kilgore) are pleased by that too.

I'm just a little bird getting ready to sing his own unique little song.

Two quotations to finish with. Maestro, please:

1. "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - Henry Van Dyke
   
2. "A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." - Chinese Proverb
   

Arvon Objectives

I don't yet have a passion for writing, or reading, but I do like to order my thoughts and ideas and I do like to try and help others understand (helping myself in the process).

I write everyday, but not necessarily fiction. So here's a poem for you to read! (Yes, it's one I made earlier!) :-)

Me?

With or without
(Clap)
Do or not do
(Skip)
When or when not
(Jump)
You or not you
(Pause)

Me?

I will still be.

--

I have no manuscript for the tutors to proof, and I don't think I am that interested in learning more about how to write. I can write, that's not what I need to know (I feel).

Instead, I guess I am:

• seeking inspiration from fellow writers
  
• seeking motivation to write
  
• looking for a way to filter out the ideas; to decide which idea to go with now

Okay, maybe I am interested to learn a little bit more about writing dialogue. (Ironically, Kate Long gave a dialogue workshop on Friday afternoon but I couldn't attend it as I was busy panicking over my Friday night piece that I had to read out.)

Ultimately, writing is a great example of learning by doing.

Yes I want to learn more about how to write a novel but I think I am more interested in hearing about other writers' motivations, other writers' strengths and weaknesses.

Not Writing

I really do have to be more disciplined with myself about writing. I have spent all of the Fridays since my last post working rather than writing.

I nearly managed to persuade myself to do the same again, today.

I guess the trick is to convince myself that I like writing (I do, don't I?), and that spending a whole day 'writing' is actually fun. I wonder why I don't think like that. I wonder why most of what I do on my 'writing' day is not writing.

Perhaps I don't really want to write a novel after all.

(We shall see.)

Procrastination

It's been a while that I have written an entry in this blog.

That means it's been a while since I have considered writing my novel.

I have been working hard, but I can sense that the fear to actually begin this particular project is quite strong, at least in my subsconscious.

And whilst 'forming a plan of action' is the clarion call to all procrastinators, I do feel in this case that it will serve me well. I've been drifting too long, and I need to set targets for me to reach, targets that get me closer to writing.

Of course I could just start writing -- and, right now work-wise, would be as good an opportunity as any -- but I don't feel ready; I don't even know what I want to write about.

I do realise, however, that Procrastination likes to hide itself behind the most plausible of excuses.

I am aware of my slow progress; yes.

The reasons I started this blog...

(1) To get myself going with this. To 'get started'.

(2) To get myself organised with this. To 'get started'

(3) To promote what I write (when I write it). To 'get started'

So, I've decided to just write, to just get started with this, but it will mean that my entries will be somewhat 'all over the place', as I try and organise all of the scraps of paper, the 'to do' lists, the wrting ideas etc. into one an actionable whole (if actionable whole is a valid expression).

This blog will not get reorganised, however.

But I will use it as an aide-memoire, and as the basis for a website I'm going to create called... Write Your 1st Novel

Procrastination

'Procrastination is practicing to die' or 'there is no such thing as procrastination, just wrong actions'.

The above are misquoted interprations on what procrastination is.

Sometimes I get 'lots done' in a day, but other days I actively do anything but the task I should be doing.

My main worry concerning procrastination, however, is when I'm procrastinating but not realising that I'm procrastinating.

Example?

Well, I've been meaning to write a novel for nearly twenty years now, but for some reason or other I just never got round to writing it. I did finish a home-study writing course but that did not result in writing a novel (I did get some writing confidence, however. And I did write a journal when I lived in Africa for two years, which gave me some practice and more confidence!)

Even when I decided to 'get serious' and take another writing course - The Writer's Bureau - I only managed to complete one assignment. (I think that this is probably quite common, however.)

It was only in 2004 when my NLP-practicing friend confronted me with questions about why I had not written a novel (and why I had not started to learn Spanish), that I decided to face up to the fact that I had better start to write this novel soon, otherwise it just won't happen.

Time was not a problem

I didn't have the excuse of not having enough time. I work for myself as an affiliate marketer, and could easily have worked four days a week rather than five days a week for several years (that is what I have now started doing, in May 2006).

You will always find excuses not to do something.

I guess published writers belong to the same group of people that include successful business owners or successful athletes: those that take focussed action, over and over until they achieve their goal; those that have excuses but still find a way.

I have my own excuses, but they're not important.

All of the 'how to write a novel' books make much about the simple fact that 'to be a writer, you must write'.

I think you'll find that your life is much less complicated than you realise. (And I do not talk as one who has no problems to overcome, or situations to improve, or words still to write. I talk as one who knows that anyone can make excuses, that procrastination is the easiest hobby to take up, that life would be a lot easier, if... )

If you want to write, write! Let others come up with excuses.

No sooner do I commit myself to writing...

than I start to feel anxious that it will all go horribly wrong, the novel-writing that is, and I will look foolish and people will laugh at me!

And that's if I manage to even write a novel.

What happens if nothing happens?

That is much worse, to me!

Anyway, I read a newsletter today that highlighted the very same anxiety I felt after publishing the first blog entry yesterday. And, with permission of the publisher Paul Myers of Talkbiz News, here is the corresponding excerpt that gave words to yesterday's anxiousness. (He's talking about a semi-famous internet marketer, Armand Morin. Now Armand is more than able to sell his internet marketing skills, but far less experienced when it comes to his completely new career of being a Country singer...)

Begin quote:
First, it shows you that action is a better habit than you might have thought.

Armand is famous for getting it done. Love him or hate him, he's constantly creating. And I'd bet that without that habit, and the resources it brought him, the album would never have
been made. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. It's Armand's dream, and he's going after it.
Will it work out? No-one knows. The only guarantee you get in life is what happens if you *don't* try. That's the meaning of the quote that's been at the bottom of every issue for pushing
10 years now: "100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."

Have you got a goal you haven't gone after?
http://www.talkbiznews.com/austin.html

Go look at that again.

If you've got a dream you haven't chased, get a copy. Listen to it and think about what it takes to make it happen. Making an album is putting yourself on the line, asking to be judged. What that takes is guts. Think about that. Then take your shot.
End quote

Thank you, Paul