Frustration, Thy Name is Time

Gods, I knew when I first started all of this that writing was a laborious and time consuming process, but if there is one factor that really kills one’s authorship aspirations, it is the waiting game. it is all very well for the powers that be to sit back and say “everything takes time, one must be patient,” but I for one am starting to feel like a Mainland cheese, left to ripen in the dairy and starting to look like one of the wrinkled old men from the TV ad (who, incidentally, have passed on!)

Grrr! I fire emails away to various parties for updates, hang around for replies which never seem to come, fill in yet more forms and still I wait. Wait, wait, wait. No use telling me patience is a virtue when one is gnawing furiously away at the end of one’s pen. Still, not much one can do about things at this stage – from my end anyway.

Ah well, I look back on the copies of my book that I self published a wee while ago (see posted photo of this!) and I keep telling myself things will, and must, change. After all, J K Rowling herself said she was left hanging on the vine for a good two years and had at least 26 rejections to start with. I shall take my inspiration from that for the moment.

The downside to Authorship

One thing I have learned of late is that writing a book, as time consuming as that can be, is only part of the journey. I do not think anyone can fully prepare you for the avalanche of information one must process afterwards in the job of seeing one’s work come into commercial print. There seems to be endless forms to fill out, social media to maintain, people to contact, cover designs and concepts to thrash out with designers and really, it is easy to see why many best selling authors employ at least one personal assistant full time, as the business aspects of it all can mean that the author no longer has any time for authoring!

No, authorship is not for the faint hearted or for those who are looking for a quick fix, regardless of what that may be. To anyone who thinks it is a soft life option, think again – if you love being constantly in the midst of people, if you thrive on other people’s ideas instead of your own, if you are the type of person who cannot focus on a sustained and forever changing project for very long, this is definitely not for you. Authorship can be a very lonely, self motivated affair, because at the end of the day the book that is so laboriously crafted can only be done by one person – you.

Okay, I hear you say, some people hire ghost writers or journalists. but usually you will find these are wealthy or well known  individuals who are crafting the likes of an autobiography or another fact-filled genre of book where old fashioned research plays a big part in the finished product and the hard information is therefore handy at one’s fingertips. When it comes to fiction, all the ideas one formulates has to come from one’s own little grey cells (to coin a phrase from super sleuth Poirot) and then one has the task of setting them all down in a cohesive order that a reader can understand and relate to.  Then of course you must bear such things as grammar, punctuation, spelling etc into account so a considerable skill set is involved in the process.

Contrary to popular belief, words of pearly wisdom do not come flying off the author’s pen at a whim (or in this day and age, the keyboard). There has been many a time where I set myself up for a good night’s work, only to sit aimlessly before the monitor as nothing seems to be “coming together”. Then again, I have had other moments where after typing a few sentences, I cannot stop myself. This is not a 9-5 occupation with set hours and tasks to complete. It is a volatile, ever changing and often frustrating process, especially when you re-read part of what you have done (and probably spent hours crafting) and hit the ‘delete’ key when you realise it is not what you were aiming for after all.

So in short – if you are a social butterfly, someone with limited patience and attention, and someone who finds it hard to get self motivated at times, authorship is definitely not for you. Nothing wrong with that, of course. We live in a very diverse world after all. But it certainly comes down to each person being best suited to his or her own special calling.

 

 

A new star is about to be born

Phew! It has taken me a long time to get this far, but at long last I have a publishing contract. Kaloo Koolay, let us break forth the wine and produce the fatted calf, the Prodigal Project has come to be!

Seriously, I have learned over the years not to celebrate too wildly too soon. We live in very volatile times and with multiple job losses occurring almost weekly we are served with timely reminders that such high points do take time and are often few and far between. Now that the dotted line has been signed and the manuscript and cover design are being sorted, I will only display my wild unabashed joy when I see the first royalties coming in and the first positive reviews. Being a writer, you quickly learn that you cannot please everyone. However, I have always aimed to, if nothing else, entertain. A good read, even in this age of i-technology, is still widely sought by millions and can satisfy something deep in the human psyche that tinkering with social media will not and cannot.

So, you ask, what do I write? I am currently working on a trilogy of fantasy books for anyone who likes the whole LOTR or Narnia genre. I am also working on a romantic comedy, which I believe many women may appreciate. Just picture this – a top international model, her ratfink of a boyfriend, and her jealous tomcat who can see right through him. Ahh yes, the fur will fly as man squares off against cat. A lot of people I have mentioned this to have already eagerly put their hand up for book copies! I shall keep you all posted.