“You only learn to be a better writer by actually writing.” ~Doris Lessing
I think every writer has entertained the fantasy of overnight success in which their first novel takes the world by storm. For some it is more than fantasy, it is an expectation. My advice is to learn to live with disappointment or quit now.
A good friend of mine (so good she has read all my books even though she doesn’t like horror) told me the other day that I’m a much better writer now than when I began. To be sure what she told me was true, she went back and read my early work before dropping the bomb on me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered by what she said, and I trust her opinion. However, possessing a writer’s natural insecurity, I worry about the quality of the work of Writer of Books Past. I thought Bayou Moon was my best. The first chapter has a good hook, the action moves rapidly, there’s a twist at the end, and it outsells everything else.
Bayou Moon was my third book. I’m working on number twenty-one. Writer of Books Present doesn’t quite know what to make of the situation. The answer, though some would say I’ve still not matured, is not maturity. I was sixty-five when I wrote Bayou Moon and sixty-nine for Hunter’s Moon. I haven’t attended creative writing classes. So, what has changed?
First of all, I have. Writer became more of an identity than a hope. As a result. The time I spend writing has increased. If you’ve read my posts here, you’re familiar with my insistence that “writers write”. It’s what we do and the more you do it, the better the chance you will improve.
I say there’s a chance. It’s not automatic. If you don’t expose your work to editors and readers who will criticize it, you will keep making the same mistakes over and over again. A word of caution before you run out and join a writers’ group, “let the buyer beware”. The group may be free and free with its advice, and you may get what you paid for.
Read as much as you can and do with a critical eye. The New York Times bestseller list is no guarantee of perfection to be emulated. You may find as much not to do as you do things that work for you. Glean what you can and then, experiment until you find the unique voice inside you.
Jack LaFountain
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