ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT WRITING THAT BOOK? CON’T. BY RITA KARNOPP

Yes, rejection hurts.  But you can learn to turn that into a learning experience.  Rejection is will always be part of the writing and publishing process.

The best thing you can do after reading a rejection is to sit down at the computer and write.  Prove you can write the book that will get a ‘yes’ from a publisher.  Wallowing in self-pity will do nothing but undermine your confidence and reaching your goal(s).

Do you watch the trends?  Well, most likely by the time you find out there’s a trend – it’s over.  Not really, but in many ways it’s true.  I don’t follow trends . . . I look for the story that moves me and ignites the ‘what if’ . . . ‘what if’ . . . and ‘what if’?

Editors are looking for a polished story that grabs their attention and is fresh and entertaining . . . whether it be humorous or a serious serial killer drama.  They’re looking for a fresh voice.

With the explosion of e-books and the ‘self-published’ writers, there’s a plethora of books needing serious ‘editing’ . . . and I believe we’re going to see serious repercussions – if not soon – later.  Not everything a person writes is worth putting out there. 

Recently a friend of mine called to tell me his book was just released.  I was so excited until he said, “I know it could use some editing – but I was tired of working on it and just wanted to get it published.”   OMG – right!  I had to ask if he self-published.  I wasn’t surprised when he said yes.  I wanted to take back every congratulatory comment’ I muttered.  Why?  It’s like a slap-in-the-face to the authors who’ve worked umpteen hours to get the book right, who’ve jump through the hoops, spent the time and money to learn the craft, and finally have gotten that publisher’s contract.

Now anyone can publish their own book and make it look like it’s from a publisher.  A reader purchases it and says, “That had so many typos, grammatical errors, and flaws – I was angry I spent money on it.”  Egad, is this the wave of the future?  I firmly believe a self-published book should be required to have ‘self-published’ stamped on the cover of their book.    Okay – let me step off my soap-box and continue.

A note: If you’re going to self-publish, be savvy enough to hire a reputable freelance editor to go over your work.  Believe me, one badly written – unpolished book – is the kiss of death to your writing career. 

One last bit of advice – don’t stop writing.  Keep working on your book until you know it’s ready for publishing – but don’t get so hung up on rewriting that you make it a one-book career.  I have a friend who has written … rewritten . . . and rewritten the same book for the past ten years.  It’ll never be done and she’ll never reach her goal of becoming a published author.

If you aspire to be a successful author you must keep writing, keep working, keep trying, and above all you must keep-believing you’ll reach your dream.

ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT WRITING THAT BOOK? BY RITA KARNOPP

Let’s face it – it’s easy to do nothing.  The label we give that is procrastination.  It’s so easy to remember ‘other’ things that need to be done or caught-up on . . . that tomorrow will be a better time to settle down and write.  Yet tomorrow we have the same problem . . . and so it goes.  You do everything – but write.

How can you change that pattern around?  Why don’t you launch a writing quota?  There are several kinds; number of words a day or a block of time each day, or even pages a day . . . or week, whichever you feel will get your butt in the chair writing.  Make it reasonable and don’t start by setting the expectations so high – you know you’ll never reach them.  Always tell yourself – you can do more, this is your minimum.

A habit I’ve gotten into is to review the last few pages of where I left off the day before . . . this gets me right into the mood and flow of my story.  Don’t procrastinate by fixing it over and over – I do correct small typos or sentences that aren’t working, but, I move into writing as quickly as I can.

Each writer has a different style, a process that works for them.  Find yours.  That starts with choosing the best time for you to write.  Some authors swear by the four am burst of energy . . . that would kill me!  I’m the late night – early morning writer – that would kill some other writers.  You see, we all know when we’re most creative.  If you don’t, then I suggest you try writing at different times and find out when you’re the most creative.  You’d be surprised at how much a difference this makes.

Never worry about whether the book is going to be or not be great!  Worrying about such things is only destructive.  Start your book and write it through until you type ‘the end.’  You can worry about fixing problems later.  Get the story done first . . . ignore that inner critic.

If you don’t believe you can write a great, gripping, compelling, moving story – who will?  Don’t create fears that will only keep you from writing or stifle your creativity. 

Believe me; every author is aware he/she might look foolish, vulnerable, or even unsuccessful.  Why would you dwell on such things?  It’ll only keep you from writing the stories that are inside you fighting to get out.

That brings me to a pitfall I had to learn the hard way myself.  You see when I started writing, like every beginner, I knew absolutely nothing about the rules of writing.  So I thought the best thing I could do was get feedback from loveable family, trusted and objective friends, and the oh-so-helpful and caring critique group.  There was also the endearing writer friend who reviewed, judged, assessed, and commented on every sentence I wrote.  

Can you think of a few reasons why this just doesn’t work?  I can – only because I lived it.  Yep, everyone had an opinion – and none of them were the same.  I finally came to the conclusion that in order to please everyone, I’d have to write at least ten different books.  And although the one-on-one critique was wonderful, the book became ‘our voice’ instead of mine.  This is something to consider when writing your story.  In the end the story must be your voice and the book you want to write.

But, that’s not to say you shouldn’t listen to advice and learn from it.  Arrogance and defiance are two things that can stop you from cultivating, refining, and absorbing the process of writing. 

Rejection is a word we often hear associated with writing.  It’s not easy to get a rejection letter saying your book isn’t ‘good enough’ for a particular publisher.  Say what?  This is not a personal insult.  If you’re lucky you might find the publisher took time to tell you ‘why’ they didn’t find your book ready for their house.  This is a great way to learn what the marketplace is looking for, and you should pay great attention to these comments.   Don’t be insulted if you receive the ‘form letter’ either.  Can you imagine the thousands of manuscripts they must peruse in a week?  Again, it’s not personal.

Never slam your back against a wall and start bashing a publisher for not wanting your perfect manuscript on social media.  This is writer’s suicide if you ask me.

Tomorrow let’s continue talking about being serious about writing your book and how does rejection fit into the picture?