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Advice to Myself as a Newbie Author

by Rebecca Forster

Here’s the truth: every book you write will feel like the first one, every day you face a blank computer screen you will feel like an amateur, every minute you spend waiting to hear from an editor or agent will leave you second guessing your experience, your talent, your purpose and your creativity.

If this doesn‘t scare you, then congratulations and welcome to the writer’s club. You are doing what almost everyone in the world dreams of and you’re doing it despite naysayers and, sometimes, your own self doubt. The first step is a heady, marvelous, challenging moment – one you’re destined to take many times over in the course of your creative career.

As I write this, I am sitting in my favorite writing spot – a coffee shop overflowing with Salvation Army furniture, an eclectic clientèle, and spotty Internet access – hoping to I will hear good news from my agent. While I wait, my brain is pinging between the project that is finished but not sold, another one that is in the proposal stage, the zygote of a new idea, housework undone, bills that need to be paid, kids in college and a weekend away with my husband. Nothing is really getting done and it’s time for me to ground myself yet again.

I have published twenty books in three genres and even enjoyed a flash-bang moment of bestseller status. I have taught writing at university extension programs and been engaged for hundreds of speaking engagements. Most days, though, I feel as green as Al Gore. In analyzing myself and my work I find I am a creative schizophrenic. I have a short attention span but can work for twelve hours editing a manuscript without lifting my head, I am instantly energized and just as quickly disheartened, I am impatient yet can wait like a loyal dog to hear from an editor, I am creative but have to work hard to sustain that creativity.

In the final analysis, I am like every other new or experienced author. We are all newbies because of the nature of the beast we are trying to tame. Publishing and reading fashion are ever changing, editors are in constant flux, new media competes for a consumer’s disposable dollars and booksellers struggle. Knowing all this I must remind myself to relentlessly reengage as a writer, businesswoman, promoter and thoughtful craftsperson. Daily I search for that focused place that will allow me to write effectively. I walk the fine line between taking comfort in past success and worrying about future rejection.

And so, I give counsel myself. Usually this advice is predicated by a swift kick to my emotional rear: self-pity is equally as dangerous as blind faith in my own brilliance. For what it’s worth, my advice to myself as a newbie is the same advice I give to myself as a published author. It works for me, perhaps one or two suggestions will work for you.

1. Write with abandon; edit with discipline and objectivity

2. Acknowledge your talent and develop your writing intelligence. Talent will get you started; intelligence will move you forward.

3. Find one person with an honest, consistent voice who will tell you the truth about your work. Often this is a reader, not a writer.

4. Listen to your critique group but go with your gut. Logic beats emotion. You can’t please everyone. Give weight to #3.

5. Rejection letters are the Mother Lode. Mine them for every bit of of actionable information.

6. Never, ever get angry with an editor. They want you to succeed. They have neither the time nor inclination to reject you just for fun.

7. When you are completely blocked go play tennis or golf or garden or quilt. Do something physical and forget about writing for a day, a month, a year. The spark will come back.

8. Learn the business. All of it. Publishing, bookselling, public relations, public speaking, contracts and finances. Relate all information to your creative effort.

9. Celebrate a contract with your family first then with your writing buddies.

10. Thank people who help you and ask for help when you need it.

Best wishes for good writing and successful selling.

Rebecca Forster
http://www.rebeccaforster.com/
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