Roadmaps
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Roadmap 1
Once upon a time, I thought getting published went like this:
- Write a Book
- Get Published
- Quit Job and Write Forever (possibly from the back of a rainbow unicorn)
Roadmap 2
Then I wrote a book and my road to publishing changed slightly.
- Write a Book
- Fix that Book
- Get Published
- Quit Job and Write Forever (I traded the unicorn in for a dragon in this particular fantasy)
Roadmap 3
Then I spent a long time watching movies, playing video games, etc. Before I knew it, YEARS had passed and would you believe it? That book hadn’t actually fixed itself, nor had another, BETTER book magically appeared under my pillow like a gift from the Tooth Fairy.
Bemused, I started to do some research. Mind completely blown, I erased my imaginary roadmap to publishing and rewrote it.
- Write a Book (this is still VITAL. You are guaranteed to suck when you start writing. You have to practice writing to get better at it, and you have to FINISH what you start in order to learn all the necessary lessons about writing.)
- Learn the craft of writing. Seriously spend time learning how to plot, characterize, revise, etc. Learn those pesky grammar rules that buzz around my manuscript and drain it of its readability, like thesaurical mosquitoes. Create a writing habit. Read, not just for fun, but also critically. Learn to see the nuts and bolts of what other authors have done that I like, and that I despise. LEARN.
- Write another book using what I’ve learned. Finish it. Polish it till it gleams. Learn from it.
- Write a query letter and synopsis for that book.
- Enter the query or excerpts from the book into contests on blogs (such as AuthoressAnon or KOrtizzle or Jodi Meadows) WHILE seeking agency for the book.
- Immediately begin writing the next, totally unrelated book (NOT the second book in the series to which the first book belongs).
- Repeat steps 2-6 until I get published.
- Repeat until writing brings in enough money for me to quit my job and write forever OR I retire and am able to write regardless of how much money I make from writing.
Where I Am
My roadmap will continue to change as I grow and learn. Becoming published, for example, isn’t the edge of the world, beyond which lie sea monsters and treacherous pirates. Right now, being published is far enough away and the publishing industry is changing fast enough that further speculation would be tentative at best.
Even though the endpoint on my roadmap keeps moving farther and farther away from where I am, I am content.
I am exactly where I need to be in my writing career. I am not ready to be published.
If an agent or publishing company had picked up Song of Binding at the point when my co-author and I finished the first draft, we would have published a crappy book.
Furthermore, we wouldn’t have realized what was wrong with the book and taken the steps to fix it. And if we hadn’t tried to fix it, we wouldn’t have realized just how little we actually knew about writing and revising.
Arts and Crafts
Writing is an art, but it’s also a craft. It takes creativity, but it also has nuts and bolts and technical rules. Back when I was in the mental space of that first roadmap, the thought that writing was WORK would have been repellent to me. Depressing, even.
Now, it’s a relief. A balm. Thank heavens I don’t have to flail about in the dark trying to fix my novel. There are rules and exercises and guidelines. Other people have had these same exact problems, and the fact that I have them does not mean that I am a terrible writer and I should just give up.
Writing is work. Writing is effort. Writing is practice.
And that is a wonderful, amazing thing. I am not stuck with just the meager amount of talent I was born with. I can hone and nurture my writing talent as much as I want. I can do ANYTHING.
It’s heady stuff. Powerful. Freeing.
I enjoy writing MORE now than I did back when I was writing purely on instinct. I’m no longer plotting blindfolded or relying on the fickle whims of my imaginary muse to drop down from the heavens and imbue my fingers with fairy dust.
The Temptation
It would be easy to fall into the trap of never moving past where I am now. As Iris pointed out, I could keep telling myself “I’m not ready” for another decade or three before I get moving further along my roadmap. As my husband pointed out, I can keep going back and revising existing books forever without actually writing new ones and moving forward.
I could stagnate here, learning. Finishing a manuscript is dangerous, because then I have to let it go. Can it fly on its own? Will it be rejected time and time and time again?
I will never know until I try. Best case scenario, it’s picked up and published and I’m the next J.K. Rowling (ha!). Worst case scenario, it gets rejected and I write a better book next time, and it gets rejected and so on and so forth …
Even in my WORST case scenario, I’m still writing. I’m still doing what I love.
NaNoWriMo 2010
This – this roadmap, this plan, this dream – is why I’m pouring so much effort into NaNoWriMo this year. I don’t have to wait for November and NaNoWriMo. I could start writing today. But I want to join in the fun of the event, and I want to make sure I don’t rush the writing. The NaNo preparation posts on this blog are for you, but they’re also for me. What have I learned? What mistakes have I made in the past and how will I keep myself from making them over and over again?
NaNoWriMo 2010 is my final exam. Am I ready to move on to steps 3 and 4 of my roadmap?
I think so.
I hope so.
I’m looking forward to finding out.
Haha, I know what you mean about the years suddenly showing up and your book not getting anywhere. I’d been “working” *cough* on Windshifter for some 13 years before last year’s NaNo when I finally decided to toss any previous drafts out the window and completely redo it and finally finish it.
For me, “fixing” the book is turning into “abandonment” more than anything. I think if I keep trying to fix it forever, I’ll never finish fixing it. So at this point my goal is to go down my little checklist of major problems, fix them all as best as I can, and then call it good and see what happens.
I think sometimes I’m taking a less-serious and more lackadaisical approach to the whole thing than I should be, and I wonder if that will cause issues in the long run. But ultimately for me publishing is “gravy” more than it is “the goal” Finishing NaNo was the goal.
Man, I love NaNo… back years ago when it was first sort of coming into its own I thought it was kind of silly. I figured if you want to write, you should just write whenever! But I’m a believer now. Totally looking forward to NaNo’ing with you and “the Twitter gang” this year! :D
.-= Pike´s last blog ..Of Pike and Penguins: In The Beginning =-.
@Pike
*grins* I can’t wait to join you guys for NaNo this year. It’s gonna be awesome!!
I also totally know what you mean about the “abandonment” thing, and that’s why I’ve back-burnered Blue Moon.
The GOOD news is that even Holly Lisle (who is running the How To Revise Your Novel Course that I am taking and HIGHLY recommend. Seriously. It costs about as much as a college course would, but you can do it on your own time and there’s way more support and no grades and I’m gonna stop infomercialling all over this comment now) has looked at a book and said “most of this is garbage” and thrown it out. And she was on a contractual publishing deadline!!
Your book CAN be fixed. Furthermore, I’ve read your writing and I know you’ve got some wicked skills. *grin*
As to a less serious approach – I think everyone can and should have their own methods and approaches to writing. You may get more serious later, but you may not. As long as you are satisfied and happy with where you are and what you’re doing, then you’re doing it right. =]
*hugs*
Frankly, I think you should go back to the unicorn and forget the dragon. After all, dragons think you’re crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
Seriously, I love how your roadmap has evolved. And obviously, as it has, so have your skills. I’ve no doubt you’ll be published, and I predict sooner rather than later.
Pike, don’t forget we have a dedicated NaNo chatroom, too (well, it’s a Saucy Wenches chatroom, but it was NaNo-inspired)–daily on Skype (text, not voice). We’d love to have you visit!
.-= Steve Hall´s last blog ..O, Canada! =-.
@Steve
I have a button with that ketchup phrase on it. *grins*
*hugs* Thank you for your confidence and support (even more so than your editing, and you know how much I value that!).
I’m really glad you’ve stuck with it all this time. I know that one could easily have seen thing in a totally different light than what you detailed under Arts and Crafts.
I just can’t wait to read all those stories that are yet to come.
@ Tami – Aww, thanks for the support and nice words! That means a lot cause I basically think you’re the BRK of Writing. (lame analogy. *whistles innocently*)
@ Steve Hall – that chatroom sounds awesome, remind me about it as it gets closer to November! :D
.-= Pike´s last blog ..Of Pike and Penguins: In The Beginning =-.
I very much like your roadmap, and it is very close to my own. As you know, really fishing for publication is not on my priority list for now. I do not feel I am ready yet, I have a lot to learn…
On the other hand, I do have one complete first draft of a novel I love, courtesy to NaNoWriMo 2009. It requires a truckload of work more, research and refinement beyond measure, and I think the only word that will be left standing after I am done with it will be she. And possibly, maybe and. But despite that, I know I have it, I have made the first step. It feels good. And what feels even better is that I already have met my character for the next NaNo, although so far I have little idea of the plot… except that it will mix Celtic mythology and witchcraft in a contemporary setting. And this time, I will do the research before I write!
I am not sure, yet, which book I would really polish, write a synopsis for, and then try to query. I likely have not even written it yet. But I feel I am on the road, and sooner or later I will get there. No rush. Rushed jobs never work. *smile*
I would add one thing to your roadmap, though, an optional step. I suck at short stories, wholeheartedly, so I have decided writing those will become one thing I will work on. And after that, finding out magazines who publish such literary struggles, and send some stories in. First, it will be a good training for getting used to the sinking feeling an impersonal form rejection letter would no doubt cause; and second, it looks so much better on a query letter if you have something to show for those writing endeavours (that, of course, supposes that you will get something else than rejection letters; likely to happen, after the pile of rejections starts supporting the ceiling). So, I would say, Step 2.5: Write short stories. A lot of them. Pick the best, and send them in. Pajama party for first rejection letter.
Oh, and, Tami? Where the hell did you find such a supportive husband, and do they mass-produce them?!
.-= Iris´s last blog ..Feather Path: Chapter VIII =-.
@Rhotley
And I cannot wait to write them with you, my love. *hugs*
@Pike
BRK of writing? I definitely don’t deserve that much praise! *hugs*
@Iris
*laughs* Research before writing is a great idea. I love that your first NaNo novel has saddled you with work and you reaction is to shoulder the extra burden and try to fix it for later. *Hugs* You’re my hero, madam!
The short story thing is a good idea, and a path that some published authors take. I’m not good at short stories – they have a different flavor from novels and take a slightly different skill set. It’s like being really good at making truffles and being asked to bake a cake. One doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at the other, but they are related.
And submitting and getting used to acceptance/rejection for short stories is good practice, and it looks good on a query letter to say you’ve been published, even for short stories. =]
.-= Tami´s last blog ..Roadmaps =-.