Most fun/Least fun- all aspects of writing and getting published

Nateskate · Feb 17, 2008

What do you enjoy most and hate the most about the whole soup to nuts writing experience.

Love- Moments where the story flows- where I'm actually enjoying it as much as a good read.

Hates- Well, this could be a thousand things, but the nightmare is a computer crash. Now I have all these redundant back-ups.

What do you love/hate about writing/publishing process.

ishtar'sgate · Feb 17, 2008

I loved the phone call, "Have a glass of wine, we're publishing your book!"
Hated the endless paperwork that followed - lists of people to invite to the launch, tons of bio stuff, one line description of novel, back cover blurb suggestions, and on and on and on...

Linnea

dawinsor · Feb 17, 2008

I love having a first draft to revise. For me, that's when the real writing starts. It's like I've cleared my cache of the basic story and now I can make it better, seeing possiblities I couldn't when I was still drafting.

I hate querying. It takes my attention off writing and onto something I have no control over that, given a writer's normal life, will inevitably include a lot of rejection.

maestrowork · Feb 17, 2008

Love: when everything flows and the creativity flourishes; getting those phone calls (we'd like to publish your book or it won an award or we'd like for you to come in for a signing/talk); seeing the book on shelves and in libraries; hearing from a stranger who likes the book, especially if they don't usually read the genre; writing something that moves me deeply; radio interviews; getting the royalty checks...

Hate: marketing; book signing at the store (especially when people just walk past you like you don't matter at all); people disliking the book; writer's block; crappy and cliched prose and plot; self-doubt; people not taking you or your writing seriously...

I actually don't hate rejections. I look at it as part of the process, an necessary step. It's a way to the prize.

bluntforcetrauma · Feb 17, 2008

Nateskate said:
Love- Moments where the story flows- where I'm actually enjoying it as much as a good read.

Absolutely.

Hates- Well, this could be a thousand things, but the nightmare is a computer crash. Now I have all these redundant back-ups.

This and editing. Ugh.

Great post.

Pike · Feb 17, 2008

I love being taken by an idea, that feeling of euphoria when the writing flows, and the occasional question I get from people who know I write, "So, did you get your book published?" There's a lady at work who has become my serrogate mother and just twinkles when I tell her of a near miss.

I don't really hate much about writing. I haven't been marred down in contracts and paperwork yet (any time, please!) but what bothers me is when someone tells me what I could write about, like they have an idea and I'm supposed to light up at the notion and pen it for them over coffee, like I'm some sort of Xerox machine. That bugs me.

Pike

Claudia Gray · Feb 17, 2008

Most fun: The writing itself, plus getting paid!

Least fun: The worry about how the books will do, the week before a deadline

underthecity · Feb 17, 2008

The most fun--when writing fiction anyway--is having a scene develop in directions I had not planned. When the story writes itself and I'm just along for the ride.

Least fun: revising the difficult scene. Most of the time revisions go along pretty well. But there are times I get bogged down in the middle of a scene trying to develop it correctly and believably. That's when AW helps. I post the scene in SYW and get help from third parties. I might spend two or three weeks reworking just one scene.

Another lesser fun activity: querying. I'm not at the stage with my novel, but I was with my children's story. Querying can become a full-time activity, and the rejections streaming in can wear you down.

allen

LianeW · Feb 17, 2008

"Fun," ahahaha. For me writing is not fun. It's sometimes enjoyable, in the way that a really hard workout can be enjoyable (i.e., "YES!! NOW I SUFFER MORE THAN EVER BEFORE! WOO LOOKIT ME!!"), but I'd never call it "fun."

That said, if writing's the most enjoyable part, querying has all the thrills of getting a root canal from a blind monkey with late-stage DTs wielding a rusty power drill. I haven't gotten far enough to have an opinion on the rest, but it can't be worse than this.

Dragon-lady · Feb 17, 2008

The one thing worse than writing a query letter is writing the synopsis. The drudgery of spending hour upon hour researching agents, making lists of agents, checking what the agents have sold, checking their guidelines and making lists of what they want in their query then double checking only to find that they've CHANGED what they want in their query. I hate the whole process. *pull hair out*

It makes the worst day ever of writers block look like a day at the beach.

underthecity · Feb 17, 2008

LianeW said:
For me writing is not fun. It's sometimes enjoyable, in the way that a really hard workout can be enjoyable

Why are you writing then? Especially if it's not any fun. To most of us at AW, writing is fun.

That's why we do it, that's why we're here.

allen

Brighid · Feb 17, 2008

Fun: Research related to the current WIP; those inspirational moments when I think "that would make a great story"; writing when the words want to come out faster than I can type; writing poetry

Not: when I can't write a scene the way I envision it; finding short story markets; being my own worst critic

LianeW · Feb 17, 2008

underthecity said:
Why are you writing then? Especially if it's not any fun. To most of us at AW, writing is fun.

Same reason I work out: I like the results, it makes me feel more alive, and it sure as hell beats not doing it.

blacbird · Feb 17, 2008

A. As I have never had, and no longer anticipate ever having, the experience of getting anything published, I can't address that part of the question.

B. Trying to get something published, from the manuscript preparation to the trip to passing the thing over the counter at the post office, utterly and totally sucks.

C. Writing something, from the first blank screen or page, to the nitpicky editing exercise, is thoroughly enjoyable. Except when I begin to wonder why I'm doing it, considering items A and B above.

caw

Lisa F · Feb 17, 2008

I love it when everything falls into place, and I know what to write next.

I hate rejection (but I'll get over it).

Perseverance is my best friend.

steveg144 · Feb 17, 2008

I love the writing itself. When it's really working and flowing, I sometimes find myself forgetting to breathe because I'm so totally in the heads-down flow.

The part I hate? The business of getting published itself. Very paperwork-intensive. Though I've chosen to push my stuff through the traditional publishing channels, I have no problem understanding why the "business" side of writing would drive some people to self-publish.

gp101 · Feb 17, 2008

THE FUN:
*Writing a first draft. You can only do it once per story, obviously, and for me it's the most fun. It's the first time I get to see the characters actually doing and saying the things I outlined. Very gratifying.
*"A-ha! moment" #1. When a new idea for a story comes to mind and I piece together a quickie synopsis, premise, plot in my head. Can't wait to jot it down.
*"A-ha! moment" #2. When I finally figure out how to resolve a dilemma in my plot that's been bugging me for weeks/months.
*Reading the story for the first time in months after revisions. I run across new chap's I forgot that I added and most of the story seems almost as fresh as the first time I revised it.

THE NOT-SO-FUN:
*Revisions. The first revision is actually not so bad, because the story still seems fresh. But when you get into the tenth or twelfth revision, or you have to revise a single chapter for the 20th time, it's brutal. Realizing I have to cut a hundred pages: not so fun.
*Beginnings. I never get them right the first time. It's usually the first thing I revise and the last thing I still need to revise yet again after I've revised everything else to my liking.
*Fatal Flaws. When I realize something in the plot doesn't make sense and I have to fix it, and either I'm not sure how, or I realize I have to change damn near the entire story now. Ice pick in the ear type of moment.
*Querying. The worst part of the process for me. Hate researching agents, sweating over the query itself, then the dreaded waiting game after I've mailed them out.

Nateskate · Feb 17, 2008

Hi Ray. It's taken me some time. I finally ordered a brand spanking new copy of your book. I can't wait for it to come. Lol, my "to read" list is pretty long.

Smiles- some of these things you're describing loom on the horizon for me. Well, some are already here. People walk by me like I don't matter all the time and I'm used to it. Book one hasn't even hit the shelves yet and I'm just getting over the "Sophomore Jinx" fears.

maestrowork said:
Love: when everything flows and the creativity flourishes; getting those phone calls (we'd like to publish your book or it won an award or we'd like for you to come in for a signing/talk); seeing the book on shelves and in libraries; hearing from a stranger who likes the book, especially if they don't usually read the genre; writing something that moves me deeply; radio interviews; getting the royalty checks...

Hate: marketing; book signing at the store (especially when people just walk past you like you don't matter at all); people disliking the book; writer's block; crappy and cliched prose and plot; self-doubt; people not taking you or your writing seriously...

I actually don't hate rejections. I look at it as part of the process, an necessary step. It's a way to the prize.

Nateskate · Feb 17, 2008

underthecity said:
The most fun--when writing fiction anyway--is having a scene develop in directions I had not planned. When the story writes itself and I'm just along for the ride.

Amen to that.

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 17, 2008

To me, the most fun would be finally being accepted and then published.

Least fun is everything else.

So essentially the fun has been few and far between.

Jenan Mac · Feb 17, 2008

Most fun: when a scene just sings. Better yet, when my beta thinks it does.

Most distressing: the precise moment when I open the mailbox and see the skinny envelope, and wondering not so much what's in it, but which agent's declined this time.

funidream · Feb 17, 2008

The most fun is the actual writing - when everything clicks together and hums along and I become one with the world I've created.

My debut novel does not come out until August, but so far, the most fun is in talking eith my agent and editor about possibilities. The least fun in the publishing part (and it really isn't that bad) is losing control over things like title, cover art, cover copy.

ishtar'sgate · Feb 17, 2008

Pike said:
I haven't been marred down in contracts and paperwork yet (any time, please!) but what bothers me is when someone tells me what I could write about, like they have an idea and I'm supposed to light up at the notion and pen it for them over coffee, like I'm some sort of Xerox machine. That bugs me.

Pike

Laughed when I read this. I think it goes with the territory. I get it all the time but I usually just nod and smile instead of saying, 'Why don't you write it yourself!'

Linnea

Chasing the Horizon · Feb 17, 2008

The most fun for me is writing the first 85% of the novel, particularly on those days when it just comes totally effortlessly and I'm really into the scene. I also (usually, at least) love reading back over what I've written later.

Least fun is rewriting anything I've already written once, no matter how much better the rewrite ends up being. The last 5-10% of the actual writing is usually a real pain because those are all the scenes that, for one reason or another, were skipped and put off. Sometimes outlining can become a real headache when the elements don't want to come together (though outlining is one of my favorite parts of writing when the outline is co-operating).

I'm not published so I can't comment on a lot of that process. I have queried, and the only part I minded was trying to write the synopsis (I eventually gave up on that and sent out my outline instead, which probably didn't help with me getting an agent). None of the query process was what I would call 'fun', but other than the synopsis I didn't mind doing it. The fact I was relieved each time I received a rejection (and kind of worried when I got requests for more) made me realize I should probably quit trying to publish, though.

M.P. Furo · Feb 17, 2008

I haven't even made it close to publishing yet, but I can say that the most fun part of writing is just... writing. Writing a part of the story that I haven't written or rewritten yet. And watching as the scene flows. And... sending bits of it to my friends by email who bow down to me and my writing and get so excited that they hit the delete button instead of the reply button and so don't have their favorite parts to tell me.

And the least fun is the inner conflict that I'm having when my characters are supposed to be having conflict. Conflict about the paragraph I finished ten minutes ago and I look back on it and think, "That's crap. I need to rewrite it," but then the rest of me wants to write the next paragraph. Conflict about the title, which I probably shouldn't even be thinking about yet: it needs to be short and catchy, not cheesy-sounding. should the MC's name be in it? or should it be one of those where the title is some obscure object that is only mentioned once in the entire 80K and makes some people(me) go "OMG THAT WUZ THE TITLE THIS THINGY IS IMPORTANT" and then we are disappointed because it really wasn't important after all but hey they had to squeeze it in somewhere, it WAS the title? And then the conflict where I think my WIP is the first in a series but the narrator, my MC, may not actually be the MC in some of them after all, which kinda sucks. So, yeah.

But even all that wouldn't make me stop writing. <3

Most fun/Least fun- all aspects of writing and getting published

Nateskate

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

bluntforcetrauma

Esquire

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

Claudia Gray

underthecity

Finestkind

LianeW

Dragon-lady

underthecity

Finestkind

Brighid

LianeW

blacbird

Lisa F

steveg144

Crusty Polemicist

gp101

Nateskate

Nateskate

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Jenan Mac

The Deadliest Bunny

funidream

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

M.P. Furo