So I wrote this post in the middle of October and never got around to posting it. This is something I thought a lot about as I wrote and then rewrote Second Star and considered what I want to do with it after.
Anyways, I'm feeling some different things right now. It actually does have some to do with the fact that I graduating in December and I'm not really sure what 2019 will bring. Well, I do know at least one thing that I want to do. Since 2016 I've been a self-published author. I've spent two years learning so much about my craft, about the publishing industry and about myself. I think that last part is the most important part. I want 2019 to be the year that I try my hardest to get traditionally published. 2019 will be the year of querying literary agents and that is why, amongst the business of life in the last two months of 2018 (and probably the first two months of 2019), I plan on preparing one of my manuscripts, learning to write a killer query letter, researching literary agents and sending them out. This seems like a snap decision, but I've been thinking about it on and off all year. When it comes to big decisions (and small ones) I have a tough time and tend to take a looong time choosing. Its a gift and a curse. ;) After a year of really thinking about what I want my future as a writer to look like, I've decided to give this other route a try. It sounds like a lot of work, it feels daunting and I think that's one of the reasons why I've been so hesitant to do it. (Actually, right before I write this post I was working on Lies my characters believe for Sterling Silver and some of the questions were about what the characters are hesitant to do and why). But I feel like I finally have the patience to do it. I've also prayed a lot about it over this past year on and off and I just feel like this is the right time. The only question is (and it's sort of a very important one) is which manuscript I want to focus my energy and attention on.
Initially I was planning on working on Sterling Silver and querying it. I wrote that book when I was like 18 and I've been working on it on and off for a long time. I love the world I built, I love the genre, I love the characters. I'm a fan of TVD and The Originals and Teen Wolf, and I really do love the supernatural genre. But... I'm not so sure its the right book to be my first to try and get published. (Do vampire books even sell now or has Twilight ruined them forever??) That little question has been one of the reasons why I was hesitant and then I realized that that shouldn't be the reason why I'm hesitant. I shouldn't be worried about what will sell and what won't. I don't want to write books (or even revise them) with the mindset of will this sell? Should I change this scene or add this because that's what's expected of my genre? All the other authors are doing it and writing this, so why shouldn't I? That isn't a very good mindset at all.
Yes, when it comes down to it, one of the most important factors to a literary agent is whether your book, the genre its in and everything about it is sellable. But I want to write books I love and are passionate about first and foremost. Anyways, I think I got a little off topic, as always. ;) What I'm really trying to say and what's been on my mind the past few days as I've really dug into Sterling Silver, really thought about it and talked with friends about it, is whether its the right book to publish. When I wrote Sterling Silver, it was a passionate project. A love letter to TVD and The Originals and Teen Wolf. I don't even know where that book came from. It was one of those books that I sort of blacked out on and just wrote it and finished it in a month because I loved it so much. And I did enjoy sharing it on Wattpad... I just don't know if I want to share it anywhere else. I feel like Wattpad is a good place for Tabitha's story. I feel comfortable putting it on there cuz its a pretty informal site. Obviously I want the books I put on there to be really good and readable and enjoyable, but there's less pressure sticking it on Wattpad. It feels like a hobby, like a passion project when I put something on Wattpad and I'm good with that. I'm good with Tabitha being a passion project and hobby on Wattpad. Maybe that'll change one day, but right now that's just where I think I want to keep her and her story because to be honest, I'm not sure, if by some miracle, I do get published that I want to be known for vampire books. Vampires come with many lines that are grayish and that I'm not sure I want to cross or even touch. I was far more daring with my writing when I was 18 than I am now when it comes to the content and I think that's because I've grown up and matured and know myself and know what I am willing to write and what I am not. I have guidelines and rules for myself and I want to keep them. To be honest, even writing a werewolf book and wanting to publish that seems less scary or wrong to me because its just different territory.
So, what I'm trying to say is, I've been putting a lot of thought into what sort of stories I want to be known for. I don't want to be known for dark or bloody stories or stories that go a little too far with the physical stuff and with vampires, I feel like that can be kind of easy to fall into, especially with a rebellious, spontaneous protagonist like Tabitha. For real, I have no idea where Tabitha even came from. She just popped up amongst my more chill, emotionally expressive characters. Even Delphi is more rational and in control than Tabitha!
The stories I do want to be known for though, are ones that still talk about and have the dark elements. We live in a sinful, dark world and I'm still going to do mean things to my characters like kill some of them and ruin their lives and stuff cuz isn't that a writer's job?? But I want to be known for stories about the power of love. About hope, light in the darkness, sacrifice and just good, kind characters. And right now, I feel like the book that has the most of that stuff in it is my Peter Pan Retelling. Wendy is a character that I channeled my struggle with depression and anxiety into and I've wanted to write a story about both of those things for a long time because their something that I have struggled with and still do struggle with. Their close to my heart and I want to make people who have felt the way I have, feel hope and like they aren't so alone and that what they're going through, others are going through the same thing. But Second Star to the Right is sort of a mess right now. Its still a rough (very rough) draft that is an intimidating 106,000 words. I've never written or revised a book that long before and it sort of scares me to even think about diving into it, let alone having it finished by February 2019. I don't know if that will happen, but I think I want to try. I think Second Star is the book that I want to query and try to get published. I'll continue to pray and think about it, but I don't know, I just feel like that's the right one, like Wendy's story came to me at just the right time when I started to seriously think about querying.
So yeah, that's what's been going on in my head lately. On a different note, I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts. Thank you for reading these ranty posts that are mostly just me thinking through my fingers. You have no idea how many writerly decisions and epiphanies about myself or one of my books or something happening in life at the time I have had while writing one of these posts. I just hope they're encouraging or helpful to you because I find writing posts on here to be extremely helpful and just a good way to get my thoughts out of my head and onto a computer screen where I can figure out what I'm really thinking. So thank you, I appreciate the time you take out of your day to read these. :):)
And now, since it is almost ten o'clock I should probably get off here and go and chill cuz its been a long day. I hope you all have a great week!
Anyways, I'm feeling some different things right now. It actually does have some to do with the fact that I graduating in December and I'm not really sure what 2019 will bring. Well, I do know at least one thing that I want to do. Since 2016 I've been a self-published author. I've spent two years learning so much about my craft, about the publishing industry and about myself. I think that last part is the most important part. I want 2019 to be the year that I try my hardest to get traditionally published. 2019 will be the year of querying literary agents and that is why, amongst the business of life in the last two months of 2018 (and probably the first two months of 2019), I plan on preparing one of my manuscripts, learning to write a killer query letter, researching literary agents and sending them out. This seems like a snap decision, but I've been thinking about it on and off all year. When it comes to big decisions (and small ones) I have a tough time and tend to take a looong time choosing. Its a gift and a curse. ;) After a year of really thinking about what I want my future as a writer to look like, I've decided to give this other route a try. It sounds like a lot of work, it feels daunting and I think that's one of the reasons why I've been so hesitant to do it. (Actually, right before I write this post I was working on Lies my characters believe for Sterling Silver and some of the questions were about what the characters are hesitant to do and why). But I feel like I finally have the patience to do it. I've also prayed a lot about it over this past year on and off and I just feel like this is the right time. The only question is (and it's sort of a very important one) is which manuscript I want to focus my energy and attention on.
Initially I was planning on working on Sterling Silver and querying it. I wrote that book when I was like 18 and I've been working on it on and off for a long time. I love the world I built, I love the genre, I love the characters. I'm a fan of TVD and The Originals and Teen Wolf, and I really do love the supernatural genre. But... I'm not so sure its the right book to be my first to try and get published. (Do vampire books even sell now or has Twilight ruined them forever??) That little question has been one of the reasons why I was hesitant and then I realized that that shouldn't be the reason why I'm hesitant. I shouldn't be worried about what will sell and what won't. I don't want to write books (or even revise them) with the mindset of will this sell? Should I change this scene or add this because that's what's expected of my genre? All the other authors are doing it and writing this, so why shouldn't I? That isn't a very good mindset at all.
Yes, when it comes down to it, one of the most important factors to a literary agent is whether your book, the genre its in and everything about it is sellable. But I want to write books I love and are passionate about first and foremost. Anyways, I think I got a little off topic, as always. ;) What I'm really trying to say and what's been on my mind the past few days as I've really dug into Sterling Silver, really thought about it and talked with friends about it, is whether its the right book to publish. When I wrote Sterling Silver, it was a passionate project. A love letter to TVD and The Originals and Teen Wolf. I don't even know where that book came from. It was one of those books that I sort of blacked out on and just wrote it and finished it in a month because I loved it so much. And I did enjoy sharing it on Wattpad... I just don't know if I want to share it anywhere else. I feel like Wattpad is a good place for Tabitha's story. I feel comfortable putting it on there cuz its a pretty informal site. Obviously I want the books I put on there to be really good and readable and enjoyable, but there's less pressure sticking it on Wattpad. It feels like a hobby, like a passion project when I put something on Wattpad and I'm good with that. I'm good with Tabitha being a passion project and hobby on Wattpad. Maybe that'll change one day, but right now that's just where I think I want to keep her and her story because to be honest, I'm not sure, if by some miracle, I do get published that I want to be known for vampire books. Vampires come with many lines that are grayish and that I'm not sure I want to cross or even touch. I was far more daring with my writing when I was 18 than I am now when it comes to the content and I think that's because I've grown up and matured and know myself and know what I am willing to write and what I am not. I have guidelines and rules for myself and I want to keep them. To be honest, even writing a werewolf book and wanting to publish that seems less scary or wrong to me because its just different territory.
So, what I'm trying to say is, I've been putting a lot of thought into what sort of stories I want to be known for. I don't want to be known for dark or bloody stories or stories that go a little too far with the physical stuff and with vampires, I feel like that can be kind of easy to fall into, especially with a rebellious, spontaneous protagonist like Tabitha. For real, I have no idea where Tabitha even came from. She just popped up amongst my more chill, emotionally expressive characters. Even Delphi is more rational and in control than Tabitha!
The stories I do want to be known for though, are ones that still talk about and have the dark elements. We live in a sinful, dark world and I'm still going to do mean things to my characters like kill some of them and ruin their lives and stuff cuz isn't that a writer's job?? But I want to be known for stories about the power of love. About hope, light in the darkness, sacrifice and just good, kind characters. And right now, I feel like the book that has the most of that stuff in it is my Peter Pan Retelling. Wendy is a character that I channeled my struggle with depression and anxiety into and I've wanted to write a story about both of those things for a long time because their something that I have struggled with and still do struggle with. Their close to my heart and I want to make people who have felt the way I have, feel hope and like they aren't so alone and that what they're going through, others are going through the same thing. But Second Star to the Right is sort of a mess right now. Its still a rough (very rough) draft that is an intimidating 106,000 words. I've never written or revised a book that long before and it sort of scares me to even think about diving into it, let alone having it finished by February 2019. I don't know if that will happen, but I think I want to try. I think Second Star is the book that I want to query and try to get published. I'll continue to pray and think about it, but I don't know, I just feel like that's the right one, like Wendy's story came to me at just the right time when I started to seriously think about querying.
So yeah, that's what's been going on in my head lately. On a different note, I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts. Thank you for reading these ranty posts that are mostly just me thinking through my fingers. You have no idea how many writerly decisions and epiphanies about myself or one of my books or something happening in life at the time I have had while writing one of these posts. I just hope they're encouraging or helpful to you because I find writing posts on here to be extremely helpful and just a good way to get my thoughts out of my head and onto a computer screen where I can figure out what I'm really thinking. So thank you, I appreciate the time you take out of your day to read these. :):)
And now, since it is almost ten o'clock I should probably get off here and go and chill cuz its been a long day. I hope you all have a great week!
Comments
Post a Comment