5 Things Every Aspiring Author Should NOT Be Afraid of: Guest Post by Author Kerri Maniscalco
Today I have a present for you all: the awesome Kerri from the blog, Write. Eat. Repeat., has shared with me some really relevant, helpful, inspiring, motivating, honest advice for aspiring authors. Kerri is also an amazingly wonderful person to stalk… um, get to know.., so be sure to check out her fantastic blog and follow her on Twitter, etc.
5 Things Every Aspiring Author Should NOT Be Afraid of.
1.) Don’t be afraid to shelf your work for a bit.
Sounds like a ‘Duh, really?!’ moment, but it’s true. Sometimes it’s easy to whip-out a 80-90K word count manuscript, edit while you go, and call it a day because OHMYGAWD IT’S SO BRILLS I CAN’T STAND IT, THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVERRR, I NEED TO QUERY IT RIGHT NOW! AGENTS ARE GOING TO FIGHT TO THE LITERARY DEATH FOR IT. Ahem, sorry, I got carried away. For most of us, finishing our work is only the beginning. Really take the time to flesh out passive language. You’ll be amazed by how much you miss the first, second, and fiftieth time around. With my last book, I carefully tucked it away for a couple of EXCRUCIATING weeks and was appalled amazed by how many “I begin to’s and I continue to’s” were still rearing their nasty little heads. Be brave and shelf that baby for seven-fourteen days (at least). You can do it.
2.) Don’t be afraid to have other people read your work.
Really. It’s going to happen eventually. Especially if you’re serious about getting published. Having friends and family read over your work is a good start, BUT…make sure they are also reading widely in your genre (and beyond) and aren’t afraid to give you honest-to-goodness feedback. One of the best things I’ve ever done for myself was have others critique my manuscript and query letter. That said, it was also one of the scariest things I’ve done, but my work is SO MUCH BETTER for it. Again, be brave. If you want to dip your toe in the ‘sharing pool’ try sites like QueryTracker.net or AbsoluteWrite.com. Both offer forums where you can share your work and get some really, REALLY amazing insight as to what is/is not working with your query or first five pages.
3.) Don’t be afraid of social media.
Now don’t get me wrong, when I first started using twitter I was nervous/scared/intimidated. I didn’t know ANYONE. None of my friends were using it and how awkward is it following strangers? I used to think things like: Will that author/writer/blogger/random-awesome-person think I’m totally creepy for following/responding to them? Will anyone follow me back? What do I have to say that’s tweet worthy anyway? One day I finally asked myself, What do I have to lose? NOTHING. Somehow I developed a decent following and I didn’t do anything special. I talked about reading, writing, music, publishing, I retweeted articles I liked. Posted some silly pictures for fun. Shared quotes that inspired me. Pretty soon people were tweeting back. Conversations were started. Friendships made. The best advice for tackling social media is be honest, be yourself, and share what you like. You’ll find other people just like you. The world will become a little smaller and a little less scary.
4.) Don’t be afraid to fail.
One of my favorite quotes is: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill. So your first attempt at traditional publishing/getting an agent/having a ka-jillion blog followers didn’t quite work out the way you wanted it to. Psst, I’ll let you in on a secret: That’s OKAY. My first book didn’t work out. Neither did my second. Or third. Would I call them failures? Heck NO! They were valuable learning experiences. Each one a stepping stone. Having your work rejected isn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world, but it’s really not the worst either. What is failure anyway? Nothing you do is a failure as long as you keep learning, keep growing and keep moving forward. The only failure there is, is giving up. So learn. Make mistakes. Make GINORMOUS ones. Make silly ones. Make OHMYGAWD I can’t believe I just did/sent/wrote that mistakes. Then laugh/shake/dust it off and get back out there. You’re going to inspire someone else, not by failing, but by fearlessly charging ahead IN SPITE of bumps in the road.
5.) Don’t be afraid of your success or other people’s success.
Everyone is going to have a different ‘road to publishing’ story. It’s really important to not get caught up in comparing your success to other people’s success and vice versa. If you’ve found representation after two weeks, sold your book in ten days, got a three or four book deal, don’t be afraid of sharing your journey. On the flip-side, if you’re still in the query trenches — do not take other people’s success as an attack on your writing skill. Everyone is different and there are SO MANY factors that go on behind the scenes you’ll drive yourself INSANE if you compare yourself to everyone else out there. You might take five years to land an agent, or a book deal. That’s okay! We’re all in this publishing game to share stories, so never be afraid to share yours. If you find representation quickly, you’ll give others hope that it can happen for them too. And, if you’ve written four, five, or even ten books and THEN receive an offer of representation, well, how can a journey like that NOT be inspiring to others?!
Kerri Maniscalco is a twenty-something native New Yorker who pens young adult novels. When she’s not writing she can be found at her favorite NYC haunts supporting friends and local musicians, roaming city streets (or parks) armed with her favorite journal, or in her kitchen where she’s a crazy foodie at heart.
Follow her on twitter and her blog for more random musings.
Posted on 2011 Nov 12, in Guest Posts and tagged Aspiring Authors, Aspiring Writers, Books, inspiration, Motivation, publishing, queries, Social media, Writers Resources, writing, writing advice. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
Great post, especially #4! I always tell my students that doing something new and interesting always involves the risk of failure.
I’d have to agree with that. I like Thomas Edison’s quote, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Makes you think of discovery and struggle in a more positive light.
Thanks for having me as a guest poster, this was a lot of fun! <333
Anytime!
Thank you so much for sharing that. I’ve always loved hints and reassuring advice. Great interview!
Excellent post. I agree about shelving your work to get perspective on it, but at least for me a week or a month isn’t enough. Joyce Carol Oates recommends at least a year (and she’s written over a hundred books, so obviously this hasn’t slowed her down). My two novels took 15 years each (the same 15 years, more or less) from first word to finished work.
I would add that everybody who wants to write should sit and really think through what they want out of it (and then ask themselves the question again six months later, and so on).
Not what you’re supposed to want, but what _you_ really want. Nothing is worse than trying for a goal that doesn’t really satisfy because it wasn’t _your_ goal. Some people want to be published by a major, some would be happier with a small press, some with self-publishing, etc. Some would really want to write for movies, or television, or emotobooks. There are a lot of options out there these days, and I think it’s important to consider them all.
Kerri, twinkster, I’m SO PROUD TO KNOW YOU! These are excellent. And for the record, I wrote four books before I got my first agent, and SEVEN books before i got my first publishing contract. So that #4 is excellent advice. Loved how you called them learning experiences. that’s so true! You get better w/each book. Plus, you never know which of those you’ll decide to polish up one day and let your agent see.
And I love #5, too! Another writer pal of mine always says this: Keep your eyes on your own paper.
Awesome post! Thank you ladies!
LOVE YOU twink squad sister! You made my heart flutter and junk
YOU are such an inspiration <3333
What a great list! I especially like number two–mostly because the irony of it. As a writer, I want people to read and enjoy my work, but part of me is like, “You know what?
I like it, and until someone else is given the opportunity to tell me otherwise, I can just assume they do to.” It’s kind of like wanting to become a famous singer without ever letting someone hear your voice.