Writing a book is a process. And quite a lengthy one at that. Often we think that the difficult bit is getting the idea and setting it all down on the page. Or maybe we think the hard part is the effort of writing, day after day, week after week.
But in actual fact, writing a book is only the first half of the long process, the long road. Because after the writing comes the editing, the revising, the editing, the revising, followed by the editing and maybe some revising. Then there’s beta-reading. And leaving it to ‘mature’. Followed by some revising and possibly a bit more editing.
One day – one wonderful day – your ‘baby’ is published. And you feel like you can sit back and relax, heaving a sigh of relief as you do so. Well, okay, maybe just for a few minutes.
Then it’s back to work. No, not on a new book! You’ve still got to promote and market this one! You need to engage readers, you need to tell the world about your book. Yes it is so, so exciting. But…
If you’re struggling in the middle of all this, if you’re wondering why it’s not fun any more, or why you feel anxious, overwhelmed, depressed, exhausted, emotional, or bewildered, and you feel that your ‘baby’ is not the cute little bundle of joy you were expecting… relax. It’s okay. You’re normal. We all feel like this sometimes.
Because, to repeat myself, it is a process.
It can be demoralising. You can end up feeling you hate your book and wondering why you didn’t stick with your day-job. In fact, I read ‘somewhere’ that if you don’t hate your book by the time it is published, you haven’t done enough work on it. I can honestly say that by the time my first book was ‘out there’ I hated the very sight of it.
But I did it. I published a book. And it was a draining, exhausting, wonderful, fulfilling, exciting process. The sense of achievement took a long time to filter through, but eventually I was able to regard my work with pride. And somehow, I managed to do it again. You will too. If I can do it, with all my ignorance, lack of skills, naivete and my lack of marketing savvy, then you most definitely can too.
So if you’re struggling. If you wonder where the magic went, and whether it’s worth all this hassle, and feel like giving up, stop worrying. You’re doing it right. This is what it’s like – this is the process. You’re doing it right. Just carry on.
A process indeed Caron. Sometimes the author feels like they’ve been processed through a production line. To be honest with you I haven’t touched my latest story for a year now. The characters still make their presence felt now and then with an, “Oi, we’re waiting.” Some good advice here.
Cheers
Laurie.
I’m kind of in the same boat, Laurie, my writing is not going well at the moment, but I am not going to condemn myself as I always used to – I know now this is ‘part of the process’, and it’s important to remember we’re not machines, and we need to be kind to ourselves.
It’s easy to get caught up in the whole process Caron. Life needs to be enjoyed. 🙂
It’s relentless! It’s all too easy to let it weigh you down – to push yourself to hit those target word counts day after day, week after week.
This week I finished the first draft of my latest effort. I’m determined to try to take things easy for the next few days but I’ve already started worrying about the next stage – what should I be doing about beta readers, what about the cover the book description, is it time to start thinking about the pre-launch stuff?
Yep. Sometimes you have to ask if it’s worth it!
Yes we need to recharge our batteries – it’s so easy to get down about the mass of things to do, so I’ve started making sure I take some time off to do other things, I feel guilty but not as much as I did at first as I have now seen how beneficial it is. It’s a tough way to earn a living!