Month March 2021

What to do when you’re not writing

freyathewriter 5 Comments

Worry about not writing.

Dream up impossible-to-achieve-self-imposed deadlines for publishing your novel.

Catastrophise how you will feel when you read your editor’s comments once they return your manuscript.

Indulge in self-flagellation as if you are an adherent to the Catholic doctrine of mortification of the flesh, for all and any reason whatsoever, but mostly because you didn’t write X, Y or Z into your plot and it’s too late now.

ALTERNATIVELY…

You can enjoy the fact that you have some time to yourself where you don’t have to focus on the (let’s face it) hard work of publishing a novel (why do we do this, why?!) and either totally kick back and put your feet up (I don’t have that gene, sorry!), or turn your gaze to something else that you enjoy creating.

Oh, you’re asking me what I’ve been doing? No, no, that’s not how this works… that’s for me to know and for you to just guess about.

(Ahem… I may have been going down the dark road. And then I may have thrown myself into other creative pursuits and created self-imposed obligations out of them too).

But that’s just between us, okay?

Progress, progress…

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What a difference a week makes!

This time last week I didn’t know about some things. Or, more accurately, I knew of their existence but I was filing them in that never never land of ‘I can do that some other time’. Well, that time came pretty quickly. It’s here and now!

Marketing. Eh. Not my forté. Or rather, I can promote the heck out of someone else, but when it comes to me and my work, not so much. I have been told that I am good at it, funnily enough, and in some ways, I can be. Whilst the actual person that is me can hide behind the digital world, I’m A-OK with creating a theme, a style, and (excuse me for sounding younger than I am) an aesthetic. But then, you know, reality bites and I realise that at some point, I will need to put a face to the name, do author interviews, ask people to stock my novel on their (virtual or otherwise) bookshelves and, I’m not going to lie, I die a lot a little inside.

I have recently reviewed a yet-to-be released ‘how to’ guide for not yet published authors. It provides a step-by-step overview of what you need to to and when you need to do it in the run-up to publishing your novel. Obviously there are no rules, everything is optional and timeframes are indicative. But it focused my mind, which was already swirling around the whole concept. And then last night I watched an interview with a marketing specialist who focuses on assisting authors with their campaigns. The whole concept made me feel horribly uncomfortable at first (see previous paragraph!). However… I slept on it and woke with energy, focus and determination. I. Can. Do.This.

Finally… book blurb. It’s time. Man oh man why is so hard to write a few short paragraphs after writing tens of thousands for Anti-Virus?! I know I’m not alone in this seemingly Herculean task. It will get done. I will win. Just maybe not today!

Until next week dear readers…