Advice for a First Time Author

Hmm, maybe I'll go get one after I retire from my present career.
Probably won't be too difficult, since I already have a doctorate in something else.

 

One observation I will make, since it hasn't been touched on yet. You are not alone in this world. It feels like it because we narrow our focus on ourselves, but it's not true. Nothing in this world happens without many, many people. That is perspective that will change your life. Involve people in what you do. Involve yourself in everything you can. Connect. Writing happens to be a good way to do that, so does speaking. Share yourself with people. That is the silver bullet. It gives you perspective that applies directly to writing. Learn to use video media to speak to people. Want another silver bullet? Learn another language! Travel to that country and live it! Even if you sleep on the ground, which is unlikely, it is worthy sacrifice. My brother traveled the world after his degree and found places to stay on nothing but personality. He developed his connection to people - anyone can!

Start by sharing with us! Start a blog here, find a local place to go, then come back and write about it. Learn how to post on YT and video blog the same. Be sure to put the YT link in your blog here. You're on my Follow list. I dare you to write about your YT progress. You're just starting out, so I expect great things because there's nowhere to go but toward greatness.

How's that for something to do?

 

@The Piper Bear in mind that the majority of us here have (presumably) already taken the route of pursuing a non writing career first, so you should expect that advice here. Maybe you want to ask successfully published authors their opinions?


That being said, I think there's something to writers (authors) that have real life experiences other than trying to be a writer. How many more stories do we have to read about struggling novelists in New York City?

Imagine if you were a doctor, a legal counselor, a historian, or an MMA fighter. Don't you think you might have more interesting experiences with which to base your writing on, other than having nothing to talk about other than the act of writing itself?

 

How do you want to define 'successfully published?'

 

Ask the OP.

 

Hi everyone,

There's not much I can say to all this. I still don't know what I'm going to do exactly, although I've certainly been handed a LOT of options and things to think about. It'll take some thinking over and a little planning and a little more despairing - I think so far I've decided that, whatever I do (which will likely be a focus on my degree) I'm not going to stop writing. Not yet, anyway. Not while I love doing it so much. Maybe, when the work starts piling up, I'll slow down, but I've got a little while to go before I have to start thinking about taking a break. If I can get Hide finished before September, I might take a break there and formulate some new ideas and strengthen a few that have been building up so far.

What I will say is this - I am amazed by the responses to this. I can't reply to everyone individually, because there's just so many things to think about, but generally, thank you so much everyone. You've been incredibly supportive and put some genuine thought into this and it's incredible to be able to draw upon all your individual experiences. There's plenty of common threads throughout this but also a lot of disparity and it's really interesting to see what you all think! As I said thank you for your help and for coming together to respond here.

Much appreciated!

Piper

 

Do something. I take it you’re young? In which case travel woudl be a good way to gain perspective, or just get on with your degree and write for lesuire.

 

Word. I've had so much fun meeting so many people doing all sorts of stuffs. One of the things I love about my life, is the amount of bonkers characters I've encountered and bonkers experiences I've had, and I think at least part of that, is my sporadic need to go out and do random things. When I write a character now, I've got a fab collation of recollections to draw from.

University is great, but it can also be a bit of an hermetically sealed bubble. While you've got the opportunity to get some variety in your life, do it. It's amazing how fixed into a routine you can get once life takes over. Go work on campsites in Europe over the Summer, do seasonal work at Christmas, do things that don't automatically appeal, talk to the funny old ladies at the bus stop, join a mushroom hunting group in the Autumn. None of that will be wasted time.

 

I'm 24. When i was 19, i didnt even know what I wanted to do after college. all I knew was that I liked reading and I liked writing. so I studied English Literature and took Writing Popular Fiction classes (genre fiction, children's lit, and Horror/Suspense), which were easy because they counted toward my degree. I contemplated going in to the MFA program, like 3 of my classmates. Instead, i rationalize: I already like writing, and i'm still writing regardless of if i take the class and get the degree or not. hundreds of authors write each day without an MFA and get published. Its not imperative that i need it NOW at this point in my life.

I ended up figuring out what I wanted to do after graduation during my final semester of my Junior year and it did not involve writing. HOWEVER, i still do write. That wont ever change. I write when the time allows.

Later on in life, though, once I am established in my new career (and have paid off most of my student loans), I do want to get an MFA.

With that said, you can both focus on your degree AND write just like with anything if you really want it.
I juggled school, work, being a paid athlete and all that came with that, 3 clubs, AND writing, and towards the end of my time in college, going out with friends.
You can put the MFA degree on hold, but dont put your WRITING on hold

 

@The Piper - as my friend on the forum like to say to me, I shall say to you: Oh you sweet summer child...

You're creating a dilemma where there's no dilemma. What on earth makes you think you can't write in your free time whilst focusing on studying? Since when did it become an "either or"?

What makes you think you'd become a better writer by taking a break from writing or even giving up? You love writing? You want the dream of becoming a writer one day and getting published? Keep writing.

You think you should give writing up because you're not good enough to get published right now? By the same definition, perhaps you just shouldn't start or continue with anything because, since when did people get good at anything by giving up? And since when has anyone been good at something without working at it for years and years? Masters did not become masters overnight. Just because you're not good enough now is not reason to quit.

So, does that mean you give up studying? Erm. No? Why on earth would you think you'd need to?

At the age of 19, the best thing you can do is leave all your options open. To some extent you can't know where you're headed - that takes time and experience. I'm 31 and only now finally applying for my PGCE (yes I found it interesting you're training to be a teacher too! I already work at a school). What you want to do is, develop your skills. Be that teaching or writing, or preferably both. This way, when you finally realise what you wanna do, you may already have the skill set needed to pursue it, rather than start from scratch, you know what I mean?

Teaching hasn't stopped me from writing so far. If anything, having a job helps keep inspiration coming. Don't think the "dream" of writing full-time is all it's hyped up to be. Unless you're a true introvert, you'd probably shrivel and all your creative juices dry up. Since you're in teaching, I'm gonna go on a hunch and say you're unlikely to be a true introvert. Maybe you're like me - you need a change of environment, you need the interaction, you thrive on relationships with people, you love to express yourself in more ways than one, not necessarily only through writing. Unlike a lot of writers, you probably don't have any issues being social, holding a conversation, and being the centre of attention. That's me anyway, and truth is all the teachers I've met so far have very similar energy as me (and I've been teaching EAL for 8 years, during which 4 was spent in a Japanese school, and currently I'm a TA in a British international school). If you're anything like me - maybe you're not, but if you are - you're not gonna enjoy sitting home alone staring at the screen for hours on end and your only source of pleasure possibly going out for a walk. Because, guess what? All your friends will have full-time jobs and then kids of their own and won't have time during the day to see you! (unfortunate fact of life) So unless you also have a job, you're left to sit alone at home. Without a job, you might not wanna spend your money on a cup of coffee that you don't need just in order to get out of the house.

Listen, being a full-time writer isn't a dream. For someone like me who needs the people interaction to thrive, it's a curse. Assuming you have a similar need and energy as basically almost every teacher I've ever met, you might end up agreeing with me. Writing is a lonely job. And, the irony is, the more time you have on your hands, the more time you tend to waste. The 5 months leading up to giving birth to my daughter, I stopped working, and guess what I did? Nothing. Wasted the time. After my daughter came along? I took my laptop out with me once a week for 2-3 hours and wrote like hell, stayed up till 1am writing, and I was getting in around 8000 words a week this way when my daughter was between 1.5-2 years old when she was absolutely insane to be with When time is precious, you make sure it's productive. When you think you have all the time in the world, you start wasting it away.

In fact, I know someone who ended up with a divorce this way. Her ex-husband encouraged her to quit her job and focus on writing - instead of writing, she wasted her time until her ex came home. Then she decided "her muse was calling" and she simply must write because she hadn't written anything all day! Ex-husband was, naturally and rightfully, quite unhappy with this, having been away the whole day already (they don't have any kids). I'm sure there were other problems, but I can't say this helped.

Also, when you get older, you may want more of an achievement than simply your writing. You may have a family you want to support - and children aren't cheap. You may yearn for a field that is "yours" - some area of expertise you can claim as your own. You may want better options, better pay because now you might wanna get your own house. You want a car. You wanna take your kids on holiday. Your son wants to go to football. Your wife wants to study. You daughter has a field trip she needs money for. Oh by the way your kids adore salmon and that's expensive but hey, it's healthy and they're your kids. (yes, I totally do this - I buy strawberries for my daughter on an almost daily basis.) How are you gonna get better pay? You're getting older, a little less flexible, less willing to adapt, less willing to take someone else's bullshit - oh wait, you're not qualified in anything, no experience in anything, the best job you can get is a junior position. You're frustrated and know you're smarter, more capable than this. But now you gotta hold down this godawful job because your kids need to eat and there's a mortgage to pay - you no longer have the luxury of doing free internships, getting voluntary experience, or maybe you have a good job and need to keep it in order to keep up with your lifestyle and payments and you cannot afford to downgrade. (this would be my husband's case - he's in IT and getting excellent pay, but he's getting bored. If he switched fields, he'd have to start from scratch, which isn't possible with mortgage payments and the lifestyle we've now got used to. He's doing online trainings to get more certification to move out)

So, the smartest thing you can do? Develop any and all skills you have the time to develop properly. Your degree will open doors you never knew would be closed otherwise, even if you don't pursue teaching in the end or switch out of teaching. Teaching can often be done part-time - supply teachers, for example. Private tutors work freelance. You can easily work abroad (as I am now). Getting a job as an EAL teacher is easy as pie in places, usually on a freelance basis. I got very lucky and got myself part-time as a TA (though now I'm looking at switching to full-time - I'm getting seriously bored at home even working part-time) - it's true that part-time teaching positions don't open too often. But I know of 2 other staff members at my school who are doing part-time. The other one is also a TA covering the days when I'm not there, and the third is a full-fledged PE teacher who works 4 days a week. Basically, with teaching, there are ways of making time for writing if it's what you want to do

Anyway, don't create a headache when there's no headache to be had. You don't have to choose at all. Get on with your degree, write in your free time. Develop them both so that when you know what you wanna do, you have the luxury of choice. You get to choose. You're not trapped into one or the other because you gave up too early and only now realise your mistake.

And now... tell me about your PGCE. I'm applying for it right now but going for non-QTS and still wondering if now's a good time to relocate to the shambollocks that is UK in the throes of Brexit.

 

Also, can I add, I'm still not 100% sure I wanna be a full-time teacher and I'm 31 My sister is only this year about to graduate from her Anglican college to become a full-fledged vicar for the Church of England and she's 35. Look, people change careers all the time. People realise what they wanna do only much later in life all the time. One look at my school's staff profile page and you see plenty of people have switched out of one career in their 30s or 40s just to get re-qualified in something else (in this context, they switched into teaching). In fact the art teacher I was speaking to just last week only got qualified to become a teacher at age 35 and is now the Head of Art in secondary after working 15 years in Primary.

It happens all the time. You don't have to know what you wanna do for the rest of your life at 19. That we even believe that should be the norm to know is ridiculous. Like, a select few do know, but the vast majority honestly don't. Not knowing is perfectly normal!

 

I agree! @The Piper , on this note, when i started college, i took Art Therapy because, at the time, being an Art Therapist sounded cool. after -4 semesters, I'd had enough and switched to English Literature. I have a cousin that knows he wants to go to college, but doesnt know what he wants to study. I said the beauty of college is the ability to try everything and figure out what you like (or at least figure out what you DONT like).
I'm in the process of getting my MLIS right now and my classmates are middle age and are getting their MLIS.

 

Well, here's the good news. You're going through what nearly every young adult does - and that's worry about EVERYTHING in some quest to make your life as successful and as meaningful as possible.

Like you, I did a degree. I don't regret it, but I can't say it changed my life either. I studied in English Lit and History at Sheffield and wish I'd taken life less seriously. You see, I spent those three years worrying constantly about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. It's crazy really, because I hadn't been brought up in a really strict family home that expected great things from me. I just put a load of pressure on myself because I had some ideals and fervour and I wanted to do something valuable. All good things, within reason, but I spent so much time being indecisive and unsure that I didn't fully take advantage of what I had available to me at that time. And, looking back, I really wish I'd just had more fun...

Now I'm nearly 29 and I'm not doing anything that I would call a 'career'. However, I'm not sad about that. I've had a great deal of personal growth in the past ten years and I feel a happier, wiser and more knowledgeable person. The truth is, I never really knew what I wanted to do in the traditional world of work. I did a MA in Journalism and spent a year in that industry but it wasn't for me. I had a go at marketing and digital media and enjoyed it but life's circumstances forced me to leave that job and go into something else. Currently, I work for a bank handling claims and complaints - not quite what I imagined when I was 19-years-old! But for all that, I don't really regret my situation either.

A large reason for that is because I knew I always wanted to write. It was the only thing I was good at, to be honest. As a kid, I'd spend hours scribbling at stories and living in a world inside my head. Later on, I developed a love for reading and fell into a world of story. The truth is, all I want to do now is write. I don't feel any pressure or need to prove myself anymore because I've learnt enough to realise that for me it was always about passion. Enjoyment. Freedom. Even at your age I knew I wasn't interested in money (other than surviving, of course) and I didn't really care for status or reputation either. I still get to have a lot of intelligent conversation with friends and I show an interest in what's happening around me, so I guess that's enough for me.

What I'm trying to say is, you won't be the exact same person you are now in ten years time. Your needs, wants, fears, responsibilities etc will change and that will be in line with who you are at that time. You're a great writer and I know just how hard-working and passionate you are about it, so why stop? Honestly, life isn't about having a beginning - middle - end. It's not so much about your grades or your success but the wisdom you acquire and the integrity you gain to be happy in who you are.

I voted 'stop worrying and go to bed' because you're putting a whole mountain in front of yourself when all you need to do for now is enjoy the climb (and the view). Enjoy University, do the degree, and see where that takes you. I'm sure you'd make a terrific teacher, but you've still got a few years before you have to make the choice. Honestly, I had a lot of free time at University (and you will do, if you're an arts student...) and I wish I'd spent a lot more of it writing. I struggled with focus and purpose but I would have been far more productive and content if I'd gotten into writing sooner. As it happens, it took me until I was 23 to start my first novel and by then I was in a full-time job.

What you really need to do is use all that nervous energy and drive and put it into your degree and your writing. You don't have to choose one or the other. Some weeks you may simply not have time to write, but that's okay. It's your project and you'll never be away from it for too long, not if you don't want to be. Trust me, your need to write will always materialise. For the time being, though, I'd say don't think about 'making it' as a bestseller or putting everything on you becoming a successful author. You certainly have the talent to do it, and you're not shy of hard work, but it's just too difficult to base everything around that assumption. My advice would be to write, write and write some more. Keep doing it because you love it. You don't have to sacrifice anything at this point. In truth, once a writer, always a writer... one day, I'm sure you will be published.

What you really have to ask yourself is, does being published right now really matter that much? Is it essential? Or can you get ahead of the game and make as much of your time as possible. Sometimes, it's a good thing to have the time and the resources to enjoy life to the fullest. There's so much learning to do, so many people to meet, so many insights to gain... right now, all you need to do is make the most of what's around you. Put aside all your worries and focus. Enjoy your personal time, too - make some good friends, get to know yourself even more than you already do... Just don't worry. You'd be amazed by how all of this is much more of an internal process, a change in outlook and desire, than a change in the world or the people around you.

Sorry, very long post, but I'll end on this. When I write, if it's going well, I feel more 'in the moment' or free than I do doing anything else. Call it free-flow, meditation, or just letting your mind have a holiday for a few hours. If you get that too, then you know writing is one thing that's just too good to give up.

 

Here, here! I'm 30 and just beginning to get an idea of what I'd like as a profession.

 

Must be nice.

 

39 here, and same.

 

This is absolutely not an either or situation. I strongly recommend you get some education under your belt so you can snag a job that lets you earn a living while allowing you enough leisure time for writing. You absolutely will have time for writing while at university. Hell, most people drink their way through college. Believe me. There will be plenty of down time. You don't have to quit writing. The fact that you've started writing seriously already gives you a huge leg up. If you really want to get published, just stick with it. Sure it may take fifteen or twenty years, but you'll get there. Writing is the kind of thing that just sticks with you. You can take it anwyere, do it anytime, and you'll just keep getting better and better.

At 19 nobody knows what they want and the people who do, change their minds about six months later. Don't let the normal confusion that accompanies growing up drive you away from writing.

Study. Get a degree. Get a good job. And, for God's sake, keep writing.

Best of luck.

 

Let me add that most people, at 19, are too young to despair.
Seriously, most haven't earned the right: haven't exhausted enough possibilities, haven't seen enough dreams die.
Despairing should be forbidden until you're at least 34.

@The Piper, imagine yourself feeling and thinking like you do now, but at twice your age.
All the broken dreams, all the lost opportunities of 20 years as an adult, and not much time left on the clock.
That's despair.

You're way better off than that.

 

I never really wanted to focus on anything else. I wanted to be a writer and I wanted it from a young age. If I had studied something else and gone into another profession, sure I could still write, but I don't think I would be good. Your education is an investment in yourself. Writing is something that needs to be nurtured. If you wanted to be a doctor, you would go to medical school. I really don't understand why people who want to be writers think they have to study and be something else. Sure, there are plenty of options and people can choose their own paths. But there are pathways to writing that can be achieved by studying it and learning as much as you can about it. I really have considered a PhD in creative writing. I have a few friends doing it. Honestly, I think it would be too hard for me, and I'm not even sure I could get into a program. I think the MFA is as far as I go, but it is considered a terminal degree. And it totally changed my life. Study what makes you happy. You're young and have the potential to be just about anything you want. Writing isn't easier than any other profession. And there is a lot to learn. Sure, anyone can do it with or without the educational background, but some our competition has studied and I think that gives them a leg up. I suggest taking some creative writing courses while you're in college. It will only benefit you and bring out your talent.

 

There is a ton of advice out there on how to write and how to write better. I think a lot of us have tried to put these pieces of advice into practice. Some of them don't work for each of us individually, but other times the right piece of advice can be a game changer. What have been the game changers for you?

I think the biggest piece of advice that helped me and I still practice was to send something out in the mail every Friday. I can't remember who said this or where I read it. And this is more for short stories or essays, but the idea that I had to really work on something and get it ready for a self-imposed deadline got me writing more and it sure did change the way I take rejection.

Another piece of advice that stuck with me is to read a short story, essay and poem every day. I think it's just about exposing yourself to what's out there, what's been done and the great works that come before ours. I read novels too. And I will admit I can't always keep up with my ambitious reading intentions, but it is something I think has improved my work.

I know most of you focus on novels. So, is there any good novel-writing advice that's made a difference in your approach or some how amped up your writing? I thought maybe a thread like this could help us all out. Share your secrets to success. I believe there's room at the top for everyone. What's helping you get there?

 

"write", easy to learn, hard to apply when you get writer blocks.

 

From one of Cordwainer Smith's epilogues, addressed to the reader:

All I can do is work the symbols.
The magic and the beauty will come of your own past, your present, your hopes and your experience.​

Easy to understand. Difficult to put into practice.

 

Read, read, and read some more. I was amazed at how much my writing improved once I began reading more and applying what I learned to my own writing.

 

From The Fire in Fiction, by Donald Maass... Chapter Eight: Tension all the Time.
The chapter heading says it all. Don't waste words, ever.

 

One of the best pieces of advice I got was one of the first—after my first beta read my first draft of my first novel. He'd missed the thread of the story in several places, and so I patiently explained to him what he'd missed.

And he said:

"You're not going to be standing at the shoulder of your reader, pointing out what they missed, and explaining what they haven't understood. Confusion has to be cleared up in the writing itself."