Hey all! I'm Lindsey, but I also go by Lin or Sinderella in the online space. I'm a clueless 20-something currently working as a copywriter. I'm fortunate I am able to write for a living, but...in all honesty, it's boring. Creative writing is what I want to focus on, and I hope to one day be able to make it my full-time career. I've been writing since I could hold a pencil, I've penned numerous stories, plays, and fanfic over the years, I've taken whatever writing classes I could get into my schedule, and I've been chipping away at the same book idea since 2013. I feel like I definitely have something I need to get out into the world and I'm excited to write it, honestly! I'm just terrified. I can do the writing part, but it's everything that comes next that has me in a tizzy. Do I want to go the trad route? Do I want to traverse the self-pub terrain? How does one go about getting a literary agent? Where do I go for beta readers? The rabbit hole of the "what next" questions has instilled in me a fierce sense of fear paralysis. But! The best way to combat fear is to just do the thing. I won't make a career out of creative writing if I don't get over my personal brainrot. So here I am, looking to learn from those who have been at the game far longer than I have and to hopefully build a circle of friends who know what I'm going through LOL Currently, I'm 16 chapters into a dark fantasy romance novel that's intended to be a series, and I'm also on the fourth draft of a TV show pilot. I'm also learning a little bit of coding so I can start making some interactive narrative games in order to build a video game writing portfolio (can you tell I'm indecisive on what I want to focus on? ). When I'm not writing, I'm usually drawing or practicing some pole fitness! Nice to meet all of you, and thanks for having me!
Welcome, Lin. What a lot of interesting things you're working on. I look forward to reading more about them.
Hey @Sinderella, welcome to our little corner of the intnernet. My advice is to actually not do anything with it right away. Not only does editing and revising take a long time (especially when you're new to the game), but there's also the little factoid that your sixth book will be far better than your first one, and your tenth one will be even better. At any rate, you'll keep improving with experience, and from the new perspective your first book will seem pretty blah by comparison. Of course if you're bound and determined, then go ahead and launch it out there however seems appropriate. I understand after such a long time you're itching to get things moving. But I just want to help you see it with a little perspective. As for me, I want to make sure my writing reaches a certain level in relation to professional work before I put it out there for the world to see and judge. I don't want my early work weighing down the balance on the side of WTF even IS this??!?#$!!
Thanks! Looking forward to posting and reading other projects as well! Oh, I'm definitely not in any rush (as much as I'd like to be...I feel like I'm supposed to have my life and smashing author career together by 25 but am finding out that's definitely not something in the cards LOL). My goal right now is to just finish the manuscript, but it definitely doesn't stop me from worrying what comes next, which might be why I'm dragging butt...but I do appreciate your words, they did indeed put things in perspective! I want what I release to be not-half-assed garbage so I'm willing to do what it takes to ensure its in tip-top shape before I push it out of the nest. Thanks so much!
Welcome. You seem to be dabbling in several different aspects of writing. That can be a good thing. Bringing those different aspects together, will help you develop your voice as a writer. Don't rush into anything yet. Focus on the quality of your work, while you research the different publishing options. Everything i have heard says trad pub, isn't doing as much of the marketing that they used to. Self publishing is a trade off, between higher profit per book, versus having to do all the marketing yourself. Agents have the industry contacts to make things easier on the trad pub route, but they are also an extra cost that cuts into your profit margin. That isn't to say one route is better than the other, just pointing out things to consider. Good luck
