The Unpubbed Writer’s 7 Deadly Sins
By Therese Walsh | June 12, 2007 |
Sometimes it’s hard coming up with a blog post. After all–unlike Marsha, Juliet, Allison, Vicky and Jason–I am a pubbed nonfic writer but not a published author.
[Update: Now I am! But this post, written in 2007, still holds true today.]
Aren’t I just guessing at what’s required to make it in this business? Some days I just don’t know. But here’s what I do know, for sure: I know what can kill a drive, what has held me back and tied me up in knots. So that’s what today’s post is about.
The 7 Deadly Sins of the Unpubbed Writer:
1. A weak concept. Let’s write a book about a guy and a girl and a dog, and love and a peach pie. And maybe an eye patch. Or not. A STRONG concept will not only increase the likelihood that you’ll be successful in the end, but it can actually help you to finish your wip. How? It’ll inspire you to sit and work on it for hours at a time. Like a body, prone and needing CPR, your manuscript needs your help. If you love it–really, really love it–and see value in it, you will keep breathing life into it until it starts breathing on its own.
2. No deadline. My kids’ school has asked my hubby and me to write a song as their new anthem. Cool, eh? They asked two months ago, and we’ve yet to work on it. I was joking with the secretary about it recently. “You should give us a deadline,” I said. “It’s all right,” she said, “you can’t rush creativity.” I smiled, shook my head. “Oh, you’d be surprised.” As someone who’s had the benefit of the hot-iron push of deadline, I’m here to tell you that it’s a truly motivating factor. But how to impose a deadline on yourself when there isn’t anyone waiting for the script on the other end, prod in hand, check in the other? You just do. You entrust an editor-like authority to those who understand your desire to reach The End–like a critique partner or buggy sister–and then let them use a pseudo-prod to bother you regularly. You mark your calendar with your deadlines–“finish part 1″…”wrap up first draft”–and you reward yourself when you meet the mark. Push yourself, and let others push you too. Don’t let your wip become an unsung song.
3. A bad critique group. Having a bad critique group can set you back even further than having a bad agent, because a bad group might mean the script is never finished in the first place. What makes for a bad group? No one knows anything more than you do. Snark (not Miss) tops the agenda at every meeting. Advice flies faster than the Wicked Witch’s gaggle of monkeys on a bad day. You edit your manuscript to please three people and set off three more. You wind up feeling utterly depleted, confused and strangely addicted to the experience–because you’re writing, after all, maybe more than ever, and people seem to want to read what you’ve written and– Stop. Set yourself free. Find some writers who you can trust and who can truly teach you something. About how to tell a good story. About the craft. About the business. And then learn and grow so that you can be an asset to them as well.
4. Relying overmuch on anyone but yourself. Even the best critique group in the world cannot write your manuscript for you. They cannot get you an agent, an editor, a contract or a check. Don’t expect them to, even if they have connections. Your writerly friends cannot and should not be expected to pat your hand and soothe your ego every time you hit a snag; there will be lots of snags, and you will burn out your valuable allies if you burden them with every one. So you dig deep. You take what you’ve learned and you find a way to become your own toughest critic and best cheerleader. And when things are very rough or when you have some joy to share, then you reach out. Writing can be a lonely occupation, but it will be less so if you listen first and foremost to your inner voice and the many voices of all the characters sprung to life on your pages.
5. Flying blind. I wrote my first novel-length manuscript without doing any craft work. I had James Frey’s How to Write A Damn Good Novel, II (not I) on my bookshelf because I felt cool having it there. But I didn’t crack it. I had books on publishing children’s books on my shelf too, but I’d never done much with those either. What I had was ego. I thought I knew how a story would unfold, so I let the characters take me on a wild journey. I learned, through writers’ loops, that I was a pantser. Cool, I thought; that’s my style, it’s how I’ll succeed. Or not. Because even though the agents I sent my script to liked my voice and many of my story’s elements, the plot itself was about as holey as a nine-year-old-boy’s socks after a season of baseball. (You know what I’m talking about.)
I have craft books now–30+ books on novel writing and screenplay writing: books to inspire, to churn ideas; to help with editing and block; easy-breezy reads and bicep-straining tomes–and I’ve read all or some of most of them. I try not to overdo it. I try to reach for these books only when I know I need the help, because I’m fearful of overwhelming the creative side of my brain with Too Many Rules. But the thing is, you need to know the rules if you’re going to play the game to win. Sure you can play the game without rules–you can even have fun doing it. But don’t be surprised if, at the end of the day, you find yourself swinging that bat alone, the others up and quit on you, sick of saying, “No, no! Second base is THERE!”
6. Not doing the hard edit. No one likes doing major edits. Wait. Can’t it work if X? Don’t you understand that his motivation is Y? Okay. It’s your story. You either see the need for work or you don’t. But if you have three people telling you they don’t understand your protagonist’s motivations, or that there’s no chemistry between a pair of would-be lovers, or that the plot skips like your dad’s old Star Wars album after you left it to bake on the dashboard of your car (oops), then you should really think about listening. And cracking one of those editing books. And doing a Hard Edit. You might not want to do it; in fact, you’d be a rare breed of writer if you did. You might even believe it would be easier just to quit and start another story all together–especially if this advice comes once you’ve finished a full draft. You might even be right. But if you love your story as you should (see rule 1), then you shouldn’t give up on it at the 11th hour. No one said this was going to be easy, and if they did you should go on and hit them with a cream pie or something. Right in the eyeball.
7. Quitting. I was torn about whether to list this one as “Not Believing” or “Quitting,” but really these vices go hand in hand. If you don’t believe in your story or your abilities as a writer, you will be more inclined to quit before you’ve finished your script or done the Hard Edit. If you feel you have compelling reasons not to believe in yourself–say you’ve received a rash of rejections lately, and none of them were favorable–you STILL can’t quit. Sorry; I’m not going to make this easy on you. It just means you’ve fallen victim to one of the deadly sins. Maybe you need more craft work or a new critique group or a better concept. Figure it out and keep going. Because EVERYthing you learn, EVERY critique you’re able to ingest without defense and grow from, EVERYtime you alone push yourself out of the dumps and carry on with your script, you become a better, stronger writer.
You cannot quit. You cannot. Not as long as you believe in your story and feel its pulse beneath your fingers. You cannot quit as long as you feel the drive in your gut to tell the tale. Because it will eat away at you if you do–until you dust off your notes and your keyboard, and try, try again.
I may not know much, but I know this.
Write on, all!
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
Superior post, Therese! Every single reason so true, too.
I’d like to add one more–letting other people or things distract you. I don’t let it happen often because I’m a selfish bee-yotch, but I know many others who put themselves and their writing needs last on a long list.
So I’d add: Letting Others Dictate Your Priorities.
Great post! I think it would be nice to be lucky too–because a huge part of this business is luck. But if we keep sending out, the luck will find us. One of these days, we’re bound to be in the right place at the right time. :)
bless me, girlfriend, for i have sinned. mea culpa!
Love this post!
Regarding the problem of a bad critique group, I think you’ve really hit on something. Can a writing workshop be a negative? I think the answer is YES!! Workshops can be a good inspiration, but I think it’s dangerous to start revising based on one or two opinions (unless you really believe the criticism). I usually use the rule that unless I’m hearing a comment from everyone it’s pretty much meaningless, and in workshops there’s usually someone who’s jealous and frustrated with their own work and wants to take it on someone else’s work. Actually, if you get a strong objection is workshop I think that’s a sign you did something right. It means you got under somebody’s skin, you really irritated him or her. That’s what it’s all about. Tepid responses are more worrisome.
JS
Thought-provoking discussion, Therese. I agree with all the sins including the one Katherine added, although it goes along with the deadline one. I soooo need a deadline.
My biggest problem is wasting time. I don’t have a problem telling people I need to lock myself in the room and write. Yet when I do, sometimes, I find myself staring at an empty page with a pen in my hand.
Probably that comes from knowing when I finally finish a project, the game really begins. The getting my hopes up, having them shot down, the snarky comments, the great comments, the “almost” buy, the “not for us” rejection, etc., etc.
What they say about writers is so true. You can’t be a sissy. And we definitely need each other for support.
Great blog.
“Can a writing workshop be a negative? I think the answer is YES!!”
Agreed, Jason. I think a trusted circle of confidants is better than a critique group, hands down.
I like your add, Kath.
Hang in there, Thea!
You’re right, Edie; luck is definitely part of the formula!
Liz, I agree that sometimes resistance comes from a fear of failure. I’ve had that “last chapter resistance” before…just can’t finish it! And there’s always one last polish.
Jason, YES, I agree with you. In a big group of people I wouldn’t make changes based on one comment unless it was a real aha moment. And I wouldn’t heed unexpected criticisms unless I heard them from several people.
Thanks for comments, guys!
Awesome tips! I really believe having too many cooks can spoil the proverbial broth, and a bad critique group is definitely testament to that. I’ve had the unhappy experience of making changes based on two critics who never agreed on the same thing. The revisions were practically one after the other, and in complete contradiction. Oy.
Anyways, I’d like to digress a bit because I heard you’re into Sci-Fi…
For all the Kubrick (and IPhone) buffs out there:
A new spoof video making use of 2001: A Space Odyssey recently came out, and there’s a mild amount of interest in the site itself: myiphoneevolution.com.
The video spoof itself is fun, but it would appear that there’s an even more compelling reason to check the site out…
The guys who made the site are now calling for a contest for people to make their own viral videos!
I can’t wait to see what people can come up with.
All good.
Lack of deadlines, I think, is the hardest of all. Oh sure, an editor-imposed deadline that is connected to a paycheck is the best motivator of all. But the self-imposed deadlines for long-term works in progress — novels, short stories, even essays and book proposals, pitches, queries, etc. — are even more important.
Hooking up with a writing (or even another self-employed creative person) to exchange deadlines often works. It’s like making a date to meet a buddy at the gym so that you won’t sleep in (said, mind you, by a notoriously late-sleeper and gymophobe, but never mind).
Every month, I print out a clean calendar, mark it up and TELL someone to ask me about meeting my deadlines. It often works!
Sympathies on your toxic critique group experience, MisterVader. I hope you’re out of that now.
Good tips there, Lisa! I have a calendar in my office just for writing-related deadlines, too.
Thanks for the comments, guys, and welcome!
Loved this article! :)
Great points and all so very true. Mind if I link to you from my site?
Dan O’Halloran
http://www.danomatic.com [i]- online resources for SciFi, Fantasy & Horror writers working in any medium[/i]
Thanks, DW!
Dan, sure, go right ahead; and thanks!
Deadly Sin 8: Letting the pressure turn you into a neurotic, nibbling hermit.
In a fit of lonely writerly despair of the am-I-an-idiot-to-think-I’m-a-writer variety, I googled “writing sucks fiction” and found this post first off. Leap and the net, and all that. ;) Thank you. Looks like I’ve found my people here; I’ll be popping in.
So I’m going through some notes and came across the Writng Sucks note card and thought, hmmm, what was that site about? And I read this post, down to the very end: “Quitting”. Which, after a gazillion rejects in a row, I certainly felt like doing this week. But I’d made up my mind to keep at it…even before I heard the Twilight Zone music as I read your last lines. Because you are right. I cannot quit. I just can’t.
LOL, Ruchika. I like that one!
Welcome, Amy P. We look forward to seeing you around here.
Ooh, I like that I inspired Twilight Zone music, Cath. :) Welcome!
Great insight. Reading your post made me think of what I call the author’s mindset – I am focused, I am Independent, I am Innovative and I am determined. I just finished my first non-fiction book and I have to say that one of the biggest challenges was listening to my “critique group” and then making my own decisions. Getting feedback is great, but at the end of the day, you, the author, must decide. Authors are entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs are people not afraid to make the tough decisions.
Really good and useful article.
Deadlines are extremely useful not only in writing, but in life in general. It’s amazing how our minds can expand a process to fit in a certain amount of time… you give yourself two hours for something, you’ll almost surely finish it in two hours. You give yourself two days, two full days it would take.
And the results are similar, even better in the case of a short deadline.
“Deadly Sin 8: Letting the pressure turn you into a neurotic, nibbling hermit.”
Deadly Sin 9: Writing and editing at the same time. When you write, just write. Never hit backspace while you write. :)
This was a great article. You addressed so well some of the things I am struggling with right now.
Philip, congrats on your nonfiction book. You’re right, though I’ve never thought of it that way, that authors are entrepreneurs.
Titus-Armand, I agree with you that back and forth writing and editing can slow things down, but I wonder if it can be useful, too?
Stephanie, thanks for your comment. Hang in there!
The above is true for article writers too I think. Was in “throw in the towel mode” yesterday! :-) I wish I had the self motivation for writing that my daughter has… she’s still in the “it’s in my head and has to come out” mode which is enough for her to at least get it down in writing and press ahead.
Glad I “stumbled” here!
Annette
Glad to see you, Annette. Welcome. :)