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Oh Shit...

I'm so damned bla...whatever that means...

It took me three years but I finally wrote a novel! Fatal Retribution, it's nothing amazing or insightful. It's fun and kinda weird. My basic goal in writing the novel was to push my main character into committing murder. She starts out an innocent little teen and by the end of the book she's murdered two people in cold blood. I'm studying psychology so I find the inner workings of people's minds very interesting.

My second goal in writing this novel was to explore a world where ALL religions [mythologies] are true! It's a scary world to say the least...big foots, gods, beasts of all sorts....in a crazy world of religion it really wasn't that hard to push a child to murder but still, there it is. My novel in a nut shell.

I finished it last August and since then, between work and school and life and writing the second book, I've been editing little by little because I can't afford an editor...right after I finished it I started sending out query letters. I've sent out exactly 100 query letters since then. I know it was 100 because I kept count and once I reached 100 I was like, Fuck it.

So, I started considering publishing it myself. Lulu seems to be the best website for that. I opened an account there and it's all ready for me to publish my book for free. They just take 20% of the profits.

I've been advertising the novel on myspace, facebook and twitter...with an Oct. Release date. I should be done editing by then...it wont be perfect but most novels never reach perfection anyway...

I also made my own website, www.gravesnovels.com I suppose it sucks right now. I'm still getting the hang of it all but I've been posting chapters there as I edit them. I figured that if people want to read the rest of the book they might buy it.

There is no copywrite, But I figured I'd do that once it's done being edited because I can't change things in it once it's copy written, right?

I guess, I want to know if I'm doing the right thing. I'm posting chapters with no copy write, I'm self publishing a book that apparently no one will touch...so maybe it just sucks that much...or maybe my query letter writing skills suck that much...

I'm just afraid I'm doing something stupid. Please tell me if I am :(

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Creature on August 17, 2009 at 9:52pm

I think the thick skin can be the hardest part. When I was new at cutting hair anytime a client didn't think my work was perfect, I'd get upset. Sometimes I'd go cry. More than once, one of my instructors had to hug me, and coax me back into class.

At this point in time I've done somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 hair cuts. About half of the time people request some sort of change to my work. Some love what I do, some hate what I do, and others feel 'meh' about it. The criticism never goes away, but the emotion attached to it does.

I've been writing as a hobby for about half of my life. Up until recently, I never finished anything, and I never let anyone read my writing. About a year ago I started taking classes at the local community college. I also started finishing short stories and putting them up for critique.

Its like the hair cutting experience all over again. Send me a negative response, and I guarantee you'll find me crying in the shower within minutes. I keep reminding myself of what learning to cut hair was like, as I go through this process. I've also been giving myself time to detach a little from a particular story before reviewing criticism. Sometimes the advice I reject, in a knee jerk reaction, turns out to be more helpful than any of the praise I receive.

Just remember, receiving criticism doesn't make you any less worthy as a writer. It does, however, give you the opportunity to better yourself. The thick hide will come with time.

Permalink Reply by Diana Graves on July 24, 2009 at 5:45am

If I had even the once of elegance you have with your words I may not be worried in the least bit...

Thank you for the kind words. I think I've grasped my situation. I will continue to write, and educate myself.

Permalink Reply by George Ricker on July 25, 2009 at 11:40am

You've had lots of good advice, and I don't want to add to the overload. Do get a registered copyright for your work, though. It's not foolproof protection, but it definitely helps. If you want to sell your fiction, then I wouldn't post it online.

There is one suggestion I will make. It's a pretty basic idea, and you may already do this. Try reading your material out loud (to yourself if there's no one else interested) as you're working it into final form. All language was oral communication before it was ever written down, and the most basic need for any writer is to find his or her voice. Reading the material out loud will help you do that. It also will help you find awkward passages, grammatical errors and the like.

One last bit of advice. Accept what suits you from all the ideas that have been thrown at you, but always remember no one of us has a foolproof writing technique and the person who most has to be satisfied with your work is yourself. If you don't like what you are doing, it's a pretty safe bet that no one else will either.

If you love to write, then write for the love of writing. Make it as good as you can make it, then move on to the next project.

Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Richard Goscicki on July 25, 2009 at 2:00pm

Excellent advice, George. I had a professore at Boston College, who made reading aloud the most important writing tip of his course.

Permalink Reply by Diana Graves on July 27, 2009 at 2:39pm

That is good advice. I hadn't thought of reading it aloud. I can see how it would help.

I'm kind of impatient. I'm actually working on three projects at once. The second installment of my first novel, because I'm so anxious to find out what happens next. And, another novel called Styx. It's about death, heavy in mythology once again. I love playing with mythology. The literature is fun and colorful. It all turns to shit when people start living by it.

I am terribly thankful for all the advice: educate myself in technique, get a copyright registered, join a writers group and read it aloud…grow thicker skin…working on that last one.