January 11, 2010

Over the years, I’ve discovered that TRUTH is like brussels sprouts–an acquired taste. It isn’t accepted right away.

Instead of the truth, most of us prefer something more comfortable. Writers do it too. We often prefer one of the four D’s: denial, delusion, distortion or disguise.

However, refusing to accept some simple truths can hurt you and your career.

Definitions

Denial means to “refuse to accept or believe the truth.” I see this too often with students when they are ready to submit their stories and articles. Some refuse to accept the truth that you must study the markets and you must submit what they are asking for. If a magazine you love requests health articles only, but you send them your teen romance because you just love that magazine, the editor isn’t going to buy it, no matter how good it is.

Delusion means “the belief in something that contradicts an established fact.” One established fact is that learning to write well takes time and it takes commitment–daily, if possible. You’re deluded if you believe you can dash off several pages every few months and become a successful writer. That’s no more likely than if I practice Chopsticks every few months, I will end up playing Carnegie Hall.

Distortion means “taking the truth and slightly changing it into a partial truth.”  This is like when a writer tells an editor in a query or at a conference, “I’ve had five books published.” If you have five books in your hand that you paid someone to print for you, they are not five published books. They were printed, and there’s a world of difference (to both editors and potential buyers.) If there was any cost involved, you paid all or part of it (if your books were printed). You might not have paid anything, but only if there was no cost involved to your “printer” either (e-books or print-on-demand books).

Disguise means “camouflaging a lie so that it resembles truth.” I’m sorry to say that, due to technology and the current economy, wolves in sheep’s clothing abound in the publishing arena. People wanting your money may call themselves “independent publishers” or “co-publishers,” but they’re still just the old vanity presses. You do not have to fall for this. Thanks to the Internet, you can Google anyone and find out about them. Also become a regular reader of sites like Preditors and Editors and Publishing Scams and Writer Beware.

Choose Truth

Facing the truth is difficult at first. Like brussels sprouts, it sometimes has to be absorbed in small doses. It’s your choice. You can believe the distortions, live in denial, embrace delusions and be fooled by disguises.

Or you can choose to believe the truth about writing. You do need to study the markets. You do need to write regularly. You do need to check out publishers in these days of so many scams. And if you choose to self-publish, you do need to face the fact that you will probably have to lay out money to someone, then do much of the marketing, publicity, promotion and sales yourself.

Whether or not to believe the truth is your choice. There’s just one catch. Only the truth will set you free–to be the writer you want to be.

8 Comments »

1. 

   A big truth that can be hard to accept is that your writing is not publishable yet. It doesn’t matter if you are new to writing (and excited about finishing something) or if you’ve been writing for a while – nearly everything needs lots of rewriting and editing. I see students who get stars in their eyes and can’t wait to send their stories out, and then are crushed by rejection.
   The truth often lies in your gut! If something tells you the piece is not ready, no matter how much you love it the way it is, listen to that truth inside you.

   Comment by Sherryl — January 11, 2010 @ 6:07 am

2. 

   Sherryl, that is very true. You and I both know as teachers that many students don’t want to hear that. And you’re so right about listening to your gut feeling when sometimes feels “off” or draggy or whatever. It probably is!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — January 11, 2010 @ 10:29 am

3. 

   Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post, Kristi. All points are so true! Thank you especially for pointing out the difference between “published” and “printed,” and for cautioning writers against questionable “publishers.”

   Comment by Jane Healy — January 11, 2010 @ 11:51 am

4. 

   Jane, this is getting to be such a COMMON problem. It makes me mad to see students and others get “taken.” I realize that patience is an acquired taste, but it’s still necessary. Getting in a hurry, and then jumping on the self-publishing wagon turns out to be a good experience for very FEW
   (percentage-wise).

   Comment by Kristi Holl — January 11, 2010 @ 12:32 pm

5. 

   Sheryl brought up a valid point, it’s something I personally have a hard time with. I thought last year would be the best year in my writing life. In some ways it was, as I wrote more stuff than in 2008, in others it was like living the first year all over again.

   As much as I believe, and have been told repeatedly by others, how every great book needs rewriting and editing, that alone doesn’t help me know when it’s working. Since every reader is different, how do you gauge the effectiveness of your story?

   One person could say I don’t show enough, another will say I need more description when four others will say there’s too much telling!

   ACK!

   How am I supposed to know when enough’s enough!

   This is something that after 6 years down this road, I still don’t understand. If the best books get overhauled after acceptance, why does at least FEEL like we have to achieve some expert level of “Perfection” just to be read and taken seriously?

   I always thought that because the market’s so competitive, you need to be as flawless as possible. If that’s not true, what don’t I understand after all this time?

   While I know I’ve improved since the beginning, I feel like I’m just stuck at level I can’t surpass.

   When I posted my frustrations with my last novel in the “Jane Yolen – Writing more thread,” you suggested I put it aside and write something else.

   I’ve done that, and I’m starting to get the fun back in my fiction, something I’ve sorely from mostly being in editor mode the last three years.

   But even so, I can’t avoid the editing of my new novel if I want it to improve, but I feel like all I do is go from project to project, because I can’t get it to read smooth and plausibly.

   I don’t want to keep the novel I worked on for half the last decade in permanent limbo, I love it too much, and have gotten so much positive feedback amidst all the criticism that it’s as worthy a story as I believe in my heart it is.

   But I’m worried that all I ever do is just go from book to book, and while I may get better with each one, I feel like while the stories and characters are different, the same problems are there, even though I do my very best to avoid them or catch them before I show them to anyone.

   That said, I feel like I’ll be on the edit-go-round for 20 or more years with nothing to show for it.

   I hear what you and Sheryl are saying, so much so that it hurts, but I can never build any kind of career if it always takes a decade or more to finish just one story or novel.

   There are times I’ve held something back because I knew I wasn’t there with a given story. Other times I feel like I’ve done all I can, but it’s still not good enough according to my trusted readers.

   I often don’t know when to ignore advice, and when to take it, and sometimes, I know they’re right, but I just don’t know how to rectify the problem.

   It’s funny how we can judge when something’s lousy, or not ready, but yet we feel bewildered to know if something’s worthy of the next step, which in this case is publication. At least I do.

   Any tips, solace, or insight would be helpful. Thanks in advance, and I hope this blog keeps going on as long as possible.

   C.J.

   Comment by C.J. Rockwell — January 12, 2010 @ 1:40 am

6. 

   C.J., I wish I had the answers for you. I have puzzled over something you said for years now. (About not knowing when to take advice or ignore it.) I had an easier time writing and selling books when I was isolated on the farm (no Internet, no SCBWI, no other writers) and had to figure things out myself. (That’s partly why I have so many writing books on my shelves.) I had sold 20 books before I found a critique group. I’m not sure what the connection is–or even if there is one. I love my critique group now though. I wish I knew what to tell you. You are hanging in longer than I would have, I think. You sound like some of the famous writers that I’ve read about, where they are asked in an interview about their “overnight bestseller success” and they tell about the previous 20 years of rejected novels that came first.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — January 12, 2010 @ 12:31 pm

7. 

   Hi Kristi,

   I so enjoyed your post that I included it on my blog at http://www.irensroth.wordpress.com. I think you are so right about the 4 D’s and about how writers don’t want to face the truth a lot of times.

   Thank you for such a wonderful post!

   Irene

   Comment by Irene Roth — January 15, 2010 @ 2:14 pm

8. 

   Irene, thanks for the kind words and spreading the word on your own blog. I think we all deal with this! Please give a link back to this blog from yours, okay? Thanks!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — January 15, 2010 @ 2:33 pm

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