Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos, with some directly from Pixabay.
Picture the scene. You discover this dodgy lamp. You polish it. A genie appears and grants you the ability, as a writer, to create your own wish list. You can have five items on it. Better still, all of those wishes will be granted. The only rule here is no wish should be harmful. You think fair enough and then compile what you would wish for.
So what would I choose and why?
Writer’s Wish List – Allison Symes
1. For a way of reassuring my younger self the writing journey is a long one and everyone gets rejections. It just feels like it is only you at the time you get them. I know now it is normal to feel this. I didn’t when I started out. I think it would’ve been handy to have known this from the start.
2. For a way of finding out information useful to your writing journey in a smoother manner. I have discovered all sorts of useful advice over time – something here, something there – but I wish there was a way I could go to one place and be able to find out this is where I need to go to find out what I need to know when I need to know it.
Now I’ve found out useful advice from other writers, The Society of Authors, various writing websites, Writing Magazine articles and many more resources besides, but I can’t claim to have found things out in a smooth manner, far from it. Often it has been a case of getting to a certain point and then realising I need to know something about a writing technique or suitable market, for example. Sometimes you don’t know what it is you don’t know. That can be frustrating at times because had I known I would have found things out sooner!
3. For ways of exposing all writing scams, including vanity presses, and these being stopped. They take in too many people. I came close to being one of them many years ago but the Society of Authors gave me excellent guidance. I got my manuscript back from the vanity press concerned. I also joined the Society!
I should add the writing community (especially on Facebook) does rally around here. I’ve seen posts (and indeed responded to them) where someone is considering a contract from a known vanity press. We all cry out as one “don’t do it!” Also the American based site Writers Beware is excellent and the general principles they warn against apply globally.
But I do dislike intensely those who try to con people and especially when they can literally steal a writer’s dreams via book piracy and taking a writer’s money to “publish” what will look like a shoddy book, which has no chance of being on library shelves, book shops etc precisely because folk know this is a vanity press production.
4. For AI not to be used in any field of creativity to replace humans. I hate to sound like a Luddite but it is my firm belief humans are best for this. Being creative is such a human thing to do! I am deeply suspicious of anyone wanting to replace human creativity with something automated, as they’re almost certainly trying to get original material on the cheap which they will then sell and make a huge profit on.
Am I being cynical? Perhaps but I would ask where is the imagination in doing that? I would say there is none. It’s just greed. I can understand AI being used as a tool though (such as using random generators to help trigger ideas and I use these a lot as they are useful) but that is all it should be.
I don’t want my laptop writing my stories for me. I’ll do that, thanks. I do need my laptop to do my work. There is a wonderful meme doing the rounds saying I wanted AI to do the drudgery for me so I had more time to be creative. I didn’t want it leaving me to do the drudgery so it could be creative! Fair point, I think.
5. For ways of overcoming tiredness when writing. I’ve found it is the one thing which can thwart the imaginative process. When this happens to me, I’ve found the only thing is to back off and be kind to myself. Get more rest. Read. Accept I will only do little bits of writing when feeling this way. All writing counts after all.
It is usually a case of life getting in the way for a time but I do wish I could switch off tiredness as and when I needed to so nothing gets in my way of writing the longer pieces of work I wish to get done. Also given I find writing anything always makes me feel better in and of myself (as I believe all creativity does for anyone), I don’t want anything getting in the way of that. (And it’s another reason to not want AI taking over because machines don’t need to feel better thanks to being creative. Humans do though!).
Accepting the Writing Journey is a Long Haul One
Now this is something I’ve come to accept as time has gone on. I’ve also accepted, as with any journey, it isn’t necessarily going to be in a straight line either!
I discovered flash fiction thanks to writing short stories and I started writing those, having become fed up with rejections from agents and publishers for my longer work. (Did have some near misses and a long listing in a Debut Novel competition though).
So writing can and does feed into your overall creative life but so often at the time you cannot see it working out that way. This is where you need the support of other writers as well. A word of encouragement can go a long way. A word of sympathy even more so, I suspect.
Sources of Useful Information
It does pay to follow authors you like, to visit their websites and so on, because you can learn a great deal from these. You do need to accept it takes time though. It pays to be part of the overall writing community online by picking a few groups to join and to be an active part of these.
There are loads of writing groups on social media and I don’t think any one writer could possibly be part of them all (you wouldn’t get any of your own writing done!) so it pays to be selective. It pays to work out what you would like from a group and then take time to find out what would be a good match for you. Yes, it is a bit like dating!
When it comes to social media, the idea is to remember it is meant to be social. So I take this to mean I will share material I hope will be engaging to readers. It’s definitely not just about “buy my book”. It’s amazing how quickly people tire of that!
Also think about the social media platforms you know suit you best. Stick to a couple of these. Be consistent and regular with posts. It is far better to do two or three platforms regularly than more than that and only appear on them once every so often.
Conclusion
It is important to remember, I think, what led you to want to become a writer. For me, it has always been about the love of the written word and wanting to see some of mine out there! But without that initial love, developed by years and years of reading widely, the rest would not follow.
Enjoy what you write too. When I’m reading works by others, I want to sense the author enjoyed writing it. Else, why put yourself through writing a story or a book and trying to get it out there? But this is where the support of other writers comes in. Everyone needs support and encouragement from time to time.
And it is a lovely way, when you contribute to groups, of “paying it back and paying it forward”. I know I’ve appreciated the help and advice I’ve received (and continue to receive). So if I can share advice, such as this post, which I hope will be informative to others, I will do so. The reward can be in the writing. And you never know when the right advice comes your way and helps with your own writing.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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