Things I Wish I'd Known...

This week I (Kath) asked my fellow Novel Points of View bloggers what they wished they'd known before they began writing. While some of the responses might come across as a little bit negative, I think almost everyone has commented that even had we known all this, we'd still have become writers. It's one of those things that's in your blood.

So, over to Rae to kick things off:

There are so many things I wish I’d known before starting writing, but have restricted my offerings to two. My first tip is one I chose to ignore for around the first five years of writing (I’ve no idea why), even though it’s one that is repeated over and over in ‘how-to’ books, writing podcasts and workshops etc. Simply put, it’s get the sh*tty first draft down. Don’t continually edit and tweak those early chapters trying to make your prize-winning page-turner perfect. Chances are that those shiny words that make up the brilliant opening line of your masterpiece will be cut in a subsequent draft. Don’t waste your time. Instead, crack on, rewarding yourself as you finally write The End.

The second slice of advice I wish I’d taken heed of earlier is to attend a writing workshop, although I understand this isn’t for everyone. Debate rages about whether or not studying for a creative writing degree helps or stifles an author. I haven’t studied writing to degree level, however I have attended a ton of writing conferences and workshops over the years and found they have provided the confidence needed to experiment, trying short stories and flash fiction, poetry and even writing in Doric (the native language of north-east Scotland). So if your creative juices lack zing or you fancy the company of like-minded souls, (it’s hard for family and friends to fully understand this mad compulsion to write), then have a quick look online at the variety of classes available to enjoy. Happy writing!

Great advice there that I'd whole-heartedly endorse. Get it written then get it right, and attend writing classes, conferences and workshops if at all possible. Now, here's some advice from Victoria.

I am tempted to give lots of writing tips which I wish I had known, but this week I am going to be blunt and shoot from the hip with what I wish I had known before being published. Would it have stopped me writing? Probably not, but it is still a hard lesson to learn as it devalues the time, effort and skill a writer uses.

In 2017 ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society) commissioned CREATe to conduct some independent research into UK Authors’ Earnings and Contracts. It was conducted in 2018 and published in 2019. The research found that only 12% of writers earned their income solely from writing. This is made up largely from publishing, but also supplemented with talks and presentations, bursaries, prizes etc. The median income of a professional author (which is the middle number in a line of numbers) was £10,497 a year. Therefore, most writers could not afford to give up the day job, (unless, I assume, they are supported by a spouse, savings or a pension). This value is only for those whose sole income is from writing.

The typical (median or middle number) earnings of ‘all writers’ (which includes those that are not able to give up the day job) is £3000 per year. Some people may say this is hard to believe, as we have all heard of bestselling authors earning millions. However only the top 10 % of writers earn 70% of total earnings in the profession. For every high earning author (the JKRowlings, Jamie Olivers, Terry Prachettes of this world), there are vast numbers of writers earning far far less (some of which I know are even in deficit by the time they had bought their own promotional material and self-published).

So don’t write for money or hurry to give up the day job. I hope you are one of the lucky ones and find yourself in the top 10%... or at least lucky enough to be able to write for a living. If you are not, than you will be in good company as there are some amazing authors out there doing it for the love of the craft rather than any monetary gain.

To read the full report, click HERE https://www.create.ac.uk/uk-authors-earnings-and-contracts-2018-a-survey-of-50000-writers/

Good point, Victoria. You be mad to get into writing just for the money. You have to love it first. Now, here's a set of fantastic quick tips from Terry.

1. Writing for publication is not a business for the faint of heart.

2. Writing for publication is one giant series of hurdles.

3. For every 10 hurdles there might be 1 joyful experience.

4. Savour the joyful experience! 

5. At the end of the day, it's really all about the lovely readers who read your books, relate to your voice, and take something away from your stories.

6. This job is a marathon. 

7. No giving up! Keep writing.  

Hear hear! I have always likened writing to running a marathon too. Step after step, word after word, and it'll take a long time to train up to the point when you can complete a marathon, or novel!

Here's Jo Allen's advice:

I wish I’d known a lot of things about writing before I started.

I don’t mean to sound negative, because there are so many fantastic moments. I cling to the good reviews, to the moments of acceptance, to the little orange bestseller flag and the number four in the Australian charts. But writing is a roller coster. You may get 100 good reviews for every bad one but it’s the bad one that lingers.

If there’s one single thing I wish I’d known it was this: everything takes so bloody long. Honestly, I can write half a dozen books in the time it takes for the first to be published. The mills of publishing grind very, very slow. It’s because everyone in it — agents, editors, book bloggers — is just so busy. It can take months to get a reply from an agent or a publisher, months after they’ve requested the full MS for them to respond, months more to get to the editing and proofing stage and yet more months until publication. 

If I’d known it, the knowledge wouldn’t have stopped me doing writing — let’s face it, most writers don’t choose the job; the job chooses them — but it might have spared me some of the frustrations. The one thing a writer needs more than anything except persistence…is patience. 

Oh yes, patience is required. Or at least the ability to stop endlessly checking emails and get on with the next project while you wait for the wheels of this industry to slowly turn.

And here's Linda:

When asked the question 'Things I wish I'd known about writing' implies - to me - that if I'd known those things then I'd never have started down that road. I've enjoyed most of the journey. But, then again, I'm the sort of person who will go to a place new to them and just explore ... go down alleyways, visit obscure museums and galleries, and find little cafes tucked away in Paris, or Rome, say, where the locals go. For me writing has been all about positives - the publication in itself which was a huge surprise because I sort of fell into writing rather than being the sort of person who always had a burning desire to write, the people I've met, the places I've visited.

I said just now I've enjoyed most of the journey ... the only bit that nearly had me throwing in the towel was my first novel edit ever. I hadn't been told to use track changes so just edited on the original ms as I always had for short stories. My editor threw up her hands in horror when she got it back and put it all through a document comparison programme - except she got it totally wrong and all my additions came out as deletions and vice versa. This was over the Christmas period and she obviously hadn't checked before sending it back and saying she wanted it back by 1st January. Thank goodness, then, for a friend who was far more computer literate than I am who managed to convince me the error wasn't mine. He even rang my editor up to tell her so. Phew! So nothing .... nothing .... could ever be as bad as that!

Finally, my own piece of advice. Let me tell you a little anecdote about when I first began writing, back in 2003. I wrote a short story that I was quite proud of, and thought it would be nice to see if I could get it published. So I googled for magazines that printed short stories, and came across a small press literary mag (that is sadly no longer in existence).

I am ashamed to say I then emailed the story to them, with no covering note, nothing to introduce myself or the story. Just the story attached to an email that didn't even have a subject line. What was I thinking? How unprofessional - I'd never have done that in my day job.

Worse, I hadn't even read the submission guidelines which very clearly stated they only accepted submissions by post.

I had, as you might expect, a very terse response pointing me towards those guidelines. You know what, I still blush now when I remember it.

Anyway I then read the guidelines, printed the story and submitted it properly. It was rejected but the editor took the time to give me some great feedback, some of it very positive - and I do believe, it was that early feedback that made me believe I might eventually do all right at this writing lark. I'm pleased to say that editor is now a facebook friend and we are mutual fans of each other's books.

So my advice for writers just starting on the journey of submitting work for publication, is make sure you read and follow all the submission guidelines before you start!