If you read my recent update, you'll know that I'm writing a ton. Working on a novel, which I am now 30,000 words into! And most of you probably don't know that I've actually already finished a book called Epiphany about time travel. I love writing, if that wasn't already clear.After I finish the first draft of this novel, I'm going to print it out and lock it in a drawer and leave it there for the rest of the summer. I'm going to pull Epiphany off my old computer and edit the hell out of it. And then I'm going to put Epiphany back in that drawer. Because the more time I spend with a book I'm working on, the less good I think it is. Which is probably good for the endgame, but kind of sucks in the moment. And then I'm going to start on a third novel that I'm really excited to write.
What I want to address is something I realized while I was searching Pinterest during breakfast this morning. I found an info graphic about novel writing that I feel like I need to address.
The writing process seems to focus on the fact that it's going to be hard, what you write is probably going to be bad and other people are going to quote "crap on it" and it's so negative. Because novel writing isn't about writing a perfect book but rather writing the book you want to. The editing process is how you refine it, make it better.
But then it became clear to me why I couldn't for the life of me relate to this graphic. The next part is about getting published, and how to either get published through a publishing house or by self-publishing. I'd like to address the latter first, and then the former. Self-publishing, as described by this info graphic is basically try, and then fail, and then give up and say whatever, publish it on Amazon as an eBook, realize there are typos and give up. Because you didn't take the time to edit it, because you didn't care about it. Because somewhere along the way getting published became more important than the book.
Now for the other side... Up through 6, it's accurate. It's a hard, road to get accepted. Agents are hard to come by, and who can blame them when they have to read so many terrible novels to find the good ones. But then it takes this terrible turn; it honestly just pisses me off that an info graphic targeting writers is so cynical and, quite frankly, naive. There is no way to really explain how ridiculous it is. yes it's true you don't get to pick your book cover, and a lot of times the title is changed, but come on, they know better than you do what will be successful. And they don't change everything about your book to make it sell better, unless all you're worrying about is making money. That's not being a writer, though. That's being a manufactured author.
And then I realized that this info graphic isn't for people who want to be writers but who want to make money as authors.
Author: a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.;the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.
as opposed to...
Writer: a person engaged in writing books, articles,stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
But that's just how dictionary.com defines them. To me, an author is someone who is published, whose book has gone through the whole process and is now for sale. A writer is someone who is writing to say something, to write the book you want to. I think all authors would be writers, but not all writers would be authors.
But some authors aren't writers, they're authors by trade, writing what they know will sell. For right now, I'm content being a writer. But I think it's important to know the difference.
Peace out girl scouts,
R
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