Trust What you Know

Maybe you’ve noticed…there are a lot of people dispensing advice on the internet. And a lot of it’s good. In fact, I’ve learned quite a lot from reading online posts.

If it wasn’t for the internet, I never would have learned how to plot a character’s internal journey as well as their external journey. I wouldn’t have known how to format a query letter, find a beta reader or kill my darlings. I may never have tried to interview my main characters, create layers for my stories or keep tension on every page.

But sometimes all the advice, even though it’s good advice, can get to be a bit much. These days when I sit down to type I don’t just hear my character’s thoughts, or even the sound of my snarky internal editor. I also hear voices reminding me to use more active verbs, stop using filter words and for once, add some emotional depth to those characters before the third draft!

Ugh. It’s a lot to think about.

Every one of us started on the writing journey because we had a story to tell. And if you’ve been blogging for a while, chances are you’ve become a pretty savvy writer because there’s a lot of great information out there to help your writing improve.

But for today, when you sit down to write, turn off all the advice and all the chatter. You already know what to do. Now just trust yourself to do it. Write that story.

We’re all waiting to read it.

What I've Learned About Writing

The more you write, the better you get.

There you have it. Everything I know boiled down to eight simple words. Deep thoughts, right? You probably already knew that.

But knowing it, and truly knowing it, are sometimes two very different things.

I didn't find an agent with the first book I queried. It won awards, it got requests, it had some close calls. I put blood, sweat and tears into that story. It was the absolute best that I could do.

At the time.

While I queried it, I started working on another story, the one that did land me with the incredibly wonderful Michelle Humphrey. And even though I found the first draft of that story quite brilliant, critique partners and beta readers were wise enough to point out what needed work. Sometimes quite bluntly :-) It took editing, rewriting, more editing, and another big rewrite until it got to the place where it was good enough to catch my agent's attention.

Last month when I went back to read that first book, the one I queried for a year to no avail, I discovered something amazing: I'm a better writer now than I was two years ago. Much better. I am SO glad that story never got published. It wasn't ready. And neither was I.

Of course, I didn't know it at the time. I probably would have been pissed off if someone suggested it at the time. It was the best I could do then. But by keeping at it, my best keeps getting better.

So my advice to every aspiring writer out there? Keep pouring your heart onto the page. Keep listening to people who are willing to give you feedback on your writing, even if you don't agree with it at the time. Because even the worst critique usually has at least a kernel of truth in it. Don't get discouraged. Everyone has suffered rejection and lived through it. Everyone has had to rewrite a story they thought they were done with.

The most important thing you can do is to keep at it. Keep writing. You can only get better.

What I've Learned About Queries

We all know that querying sucks. It's hard to be rejected, hard to put yourself out there when you've been shot down so many times before.

But here's the thing: sometimes when you get the polite, "Thank you, but it's not the right fit," all they're really saying is, "It's not the right fit."

Now I'm assuming here that you've written a killer query and had it vetted by several people. I'm also assuming that you have written, revised, let it sit, and then rewritten and revised some more. Because if you've only written and revised and you're getting rejections, then by all means, go back and revise again before you send out more queries.

This is for the people who have done that, the people who have done everything in their power to craft the best story they possibly can. I know a LOT of people who are here. I've read their books. I know they're talented writers.

And I'm here to say, truly, sometimes it's not you. It's them.

I don't mean that in an adversarial way. All I'm saying is that there are a whole realm of possibilities out there. The agent you queried may have just signed someone with a similar story. Maybe they're holding out for a particular kind of story that they know a certain editor is looking for. Maybe they think it's a great idea, but not something they want to represent. Or maybe they just weren't feeling it that day.

Who. Knows.

The point is, this part of the process is out of your control. You can't beat yourself up second guessing the hidden meaning in a rejection. Sometimes it's not you. It's them.

Don't lose hope.

You only need one yes. But you might not get it until after you've heard a hundred nos.

Write the best story you can. Write the best query you can. And above all, keep writing. As long as you believe, one day it will pay off.