Too Soon or Too Late?
I recently met someone who shyly admitted she wanted to become a romance writer. She mentioned she'd written several beginnings, endings, and partial drafts (I so resembled this not too long ago), has more ideas than time to write them all (ditto), and although she is aware of RWA (Romance Writers of America) and similar organizations, did not yet feel comfortable making that plunge.
I, too, had been Exactly Like That. (I'd actually paid money to join both RWA and my local chapter TARA, but didn't actually get up the gumption to attend a meeting for a full calendar year.)
So then I, in my typical world domination mindset bossy style, set about delivering two pieces of unsolicited advice:
1) Finish a book. Any book. It's OK if it sucks.
2) Join a writing chapter. And, yanno, take advantage of it.
I was pretty proud of myself for a while there. Those were my two best pieces of advice overall (for any writer, regardless of genre) and would've totally changed my life if I myself had followed the suggestions years earlier.
But. (You knew there'd be a but, right?) Later I got to thinking... Yanno, she's probably trying to do #1. If she were a painter and I walked in on her laying down the background in oils, and I said, "You know what? I think you should go ahead and put the foreground in when you're done with that background stuff." I would look like a complete ass, right? It's not like finishing a book hadn't occurred to her. For all I know, she's on page 399 with two paragraphs to go.
As to advice #2, I probably felt so strongly because I had gone through the same thing--I was under the misconception I needed to finish a book before becoming the tiniest bit active in my chapter, or they wouldn't believe I was a Real Aspiring Author. That first book would've been sooo much better if I would've gone to a few workshops during its conception and first draft(s) (which is what prompted the unsolicited advice to join! join! join!) but would it have been salable? Meh, prolly not.
At this point, I began to think maybe I should've kept my big fat mouth shut and let her do her thing (which she will undoubtedly do anyway) and pursue her goals at her own pace. What's best for me isn't necessarily best for everyone else and all that. (Awww, life lesson.)
YOUR TURN: What do you think? Big mouth shut next time? Are there other (better?) things I should say in the future when I run into an aspiring author at those very early stages? Please give me your suggestions!
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9 comments:
I don't think you were being a big-mouth. It may sound like an obvious thing to tell a hopeful author to finish her book, but sometimes people need to hear the obvious things. Look at it this way, maybe your advice will show her someone believes she can finish one. Sometimes all it takes is a little support and a friendly nudge. =o)
No, I don't think you told her anything any one of us would have told her. (Does that mean we all also suffer from the world dominion mindset? Quite possible.)
If you told her she was never going to make it and she should quit--that would have been bad.
Don't sweat it, E. It took me about six or eight months after joining RWA to go to my local chapter meeting. I hadn't yet finished my first book, but I was soooo not alone and they made me feel really comfortable. We've had new members who haven't yet written a word. I totally admire them.
But I do get what you're saying about the advice of finishing a book being a bit like, "duh." I usually say that getting to the end on that first book was really hard. Took me 13 months, but that once I did it, things got easier for some weird, cosmic reason.
E, there's nothing wrong with giving your best advice to someone. Just the contrary, in fact. It's up to the other person to decide whether to act on it. Horse to water, and all that.
What's best for me isn't necessarily best for everyone else and all that.
Well, if - sorry, when - you achieve world domination that may become moot. But I think our own hard-won experience is something we should share with others, even if they don't appreciate the great boon they're getting. :)
BTW, someone I know - let's call him Bill - has been furiously cranking out a romance novel at the rate of ten pages a day. He's never written romance before, but suddenly there was a story inside him screaming to be written. He's having an utter blast as he's writing away on a blue streak, but he's also mindful of the fact that he doesn't have a clue as to what he's doing, other than writing a story that's pretty much writing itself.
Based on your column today, I think I will check out - I mean, tell him to check out the local RAWA chapter. So even though you gave your advice to someone else, I will pass it along to him and I strongly suspect he will act on it. So yay! for giving advice!
It sounds to me like you were trying to encourage her, which is never a bad thing. I remember when I was starting out, people would tell me to just keep getting words on the page. That, too, is kind of an obvious thing, but it helps to know that other people found it as much of a challenge as I did. Because when things are tough, it helps to remember that you're not the only one!
Hi Erica,
I think you gave excellent advice. Moreover, I think when people share information about themselves, such as someone confiding in you that she wanted to be a romance writer, it's because they want to encourage a dialog. She told you because she wanted your input.
Now granted, chances are good she would prefer rah-rah cheerleader stuff, but you gave her the advice she needed to hear. Advice I would have wanted to hear had I been in her place.
Ya dun good.
I would retract #2 because of my experience as a brand new writing struggling to get from "Once upon a time" to "The End". I joined busy writers loops early in the game before I'd even completed a MS and got distracted by all the chatter and in the end, so intimidated by The Market and the so-called do's and dont's of writing I suffered from a severe case of writer's block. But that's just me. *g* I personally would advise a new writer to work out her own voice and writing style on her own, and gain confidence in her vision before joining the masses.
Well, I wouldn't even let myself join RWA until I'd finished a manuscript.
This is the question I get the most. "What advice would you give new writers?" Well, how "new" are you? *thinking* about writing a book? Had a few false starts? Have a complete book and don't know what to do next?
Then I go from there. But yeah, I am a big fan of telling people they really do need to power through and finish a draft of SOME book before they can move forward.
Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement on my (debatable) encouragement! Knowing you felt my heart was in the right place (even if my mouth wasn't forming the right words) makes me feel much better. =)
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