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Misgivings
Sep. 21st, 2010 09:47 pmI can haz them? Yes I can! I woke up this morning with the knowledge that I needed to write on the novel--and a sinking feeling. Not a good combination. That ole debbil Self-Doubt was jabbing me plenty with his pitchfork, and frankly my ass is sore 'cause he's been doing it consistently for a while now. I know that I need to just ignore those doubts*, sit my butt down in front of the computer (or stand, if I like) and write--but some days it's harder than others.
So (on my lovely and talented wife's suggestion), I grabbed the laptop and scampered to the mall, where I spent the afternoon in the food court, drinking a cold drink and typing away. Just getting away from my PC, where the ever-present urge to distract myself with emails, the internet, and so forth, was a help (i'd turned off the wireless reception on the laptop).
It also helped that I realized I was worried about the wrong audience. There are people who will not like what I'm writing, people whose opinions I value, but who simply aren't the target market for this project. I've been wondering how I could make this something they'd like. And the answer is: I can't. There are genres and sub-genres that I simply don't care about, and no matter how well they're written, I'm never going to care about them. Or read them, if I have anything to say about it.
Ditto for what I'm writing now. I shouldn't worry about what the people who don't like this sort of thing would think of it. I should be thinking about the people who would love a story like this. Which is hardly news, of course. But when that ole debbil Self-Doubt is winding your entrails around his pitchfork like spaghetti...it can hard to keep in mind.
Plus, as usual, lurking the vast aisles of all-new fiction in the Barnes & Noble outlet--the shelves and shelves and shelves of science fiction and fantasy, the mysteries, the romances,... That always helps too. Someone sold every one of those books to an editor. I can do that too. Even if the book I'm writing now never sells, the practice I get from writing it will get me that much closer to writing the one that does sell.
*Which is why I pimp Heinlein's Rules For Writers so often in so many different forums. They're a prescription for short-circuiting all the most common (and effective) ways to sabotage yourself.
Project: Iron Maiden
Deadline: October 31, 2010
New Words Written Today: 3,100
Total Words Written: 35,000 and change.
Things Accomplished in Fiction: Leah receives an interesting proposal. Or is that, proposition? She also meets three new co-workers, one of whom possesses some serious Power Perversion Potential.
Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 58
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 2
Novel Queries
Strange Attractors (urban fantasy): 4 queries out, 9 rejections
Repossessor (science fiction): 5 queries out, no responses
So (on my lovely and talented wife's suggestion), I grabbed the laptop and scampered to the mall, where I spent the afternoon in the food court, drinking a cold drink and typing away. Just getting away from my PC, where the ever-present urge to distract myself with emails, the internet, and so forth, was a help (i'd turned off the wireless reception on the laptop).
It also helped that I realized I was worried about the wrong audience. There are people who will not like what I'm writing, people whose opinions I value, but who simply aren't the target market for this project. I've been wondering how I could make this something they'd like. And the answer is: I can't. There are genres and sub-genres that I simply don't care about, and no matter how well they're written, I'm never going to care about them. Or read them, if I have anything to say about it.
Ditto for what I'm writing now. I shouldn't worry about what the people who don't like this sort of thing would think of it. I should be thinking about the people who would love a story like this. Which is hardly news, of course. But when that ole debbil Self-Doubt is winding your entrails around his pitchfork like spaghetti...it can hard to keep in mind.
Plus, as usual, lurking the vast aisles of all-new fiction in the Barnes & Noble outlet--the shelves and shelves and shelves of science fiction and fantasy, the mysteries, the romances,... That always helps too. Someone sold every one of those books to an editor. I can do that too. Even if the book I'm writing now never sells, the practice I get from writing it will get me that much closer to writing the one that does sell.
*Which is why I pimp Heinlein's Rules For Writers so often in so many different forums. They're a prescription for short-circuiting all the most common (and effective) ways to sabotage yourself.
Project: Iron Maiden
Deadline: October 31, 2010
New Words Written Today: 3,100
Total Words Written: 35,000 and change.
Things Accomplished in Fiction: Leah receives an interesting proposal. Or is that, proposition? She also meets three new co-workers, one of whom possesses some serious Power Perversion Potential.
Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 58
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 2
Novel Queries
Strange Attractors (urban fantasy): 4 queries out, 9 rejections
Repossessor (science fiction): 5 queries out, no responses