Today I thought it would be great to share some posts I stumbled on that I wish I had read years ago before starting out as a writer. Perhaps they would have helped me enter the path with a better sense of reality. (I mean, come on! I write fiction for crying out loud. Reality is just a thread sticking out of my sweater sleeve.)
I'll also ask you to share what you wish YOU had known before becoming a writer.
- I wish I had known how time intensive this process would be.
- I wish I had known how hard it would be for my family to support my desire to give this "hobby" a try.
- I wish I had known from the very beginning that my writing style doesn't (and probably never will) fit perfectly in a well labeled box. It would have saved me much heartache.
I'm glad I didn't know what wonderful friends and support I would find in the online writing community. That's one surprise that helped me to press forward.
Links:
21 Thing I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Writing by Robin Black
What I Wish I Knew Before I was Published-- a list from many authors
5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an Author--I love #3 even though I don't drink. :)
And this most excellent post...
Nice Things I Wish I'd Known About Publishing by Alison Cherry
So, comment now. What do you wish you'd known about writing, getting published, marketing, etc?
6 comments:
I wish I knew how hard marketing would be.
The time one I kind of knew, but I agree the full reality is shocking.
Yeah, I don't think I have marketing figured out even now.
I can't say that I wish I had known something before becoming a writer. Maybe I wish I had started sooner, but I wasn't ready then.
It seems like I've gotten the information about how to write and how to publish when I was ready for it.
Liz, when I read your post I automatically burst into song--"You can't always get what you want, you can't always get what you want, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find you get what you need."
I would love to sample your writing style! Things I wish I'd known is that though being a published author is fun and adventurous and I love interaction with the public, there is a WHOLE different world behind that. It isn't easy. It is worthy it, though. No one (unless you're a Tolkien) really makes billions and it's like being a teacher--if our goal is for the money, you're in the wrong business!
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony
I wish I'd given small publishers a try earlier than I did.
But maybe it's all part of the learning process anyway. Maybe Providence said, "Hold up, there girl. You just ain't ready yet."
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