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So, a dude on another board was asking for advice on being a full time author and all that jazz, and I typed out a reply to him and this is what came pouring out of me:
Anyway, as it was pouring out of me, I realized that like 90% of this stuff has came from my experience here on this board, so I thought I'd post it here to show all of you who take the time to give advice how much I appreciate what I've learned here.
I also thought it might make for a good discussion, so if any of you have anything to add, comments, etc. feel free.
(I feel like I might have been a bit heavy handed with him. )
Anyways, thanks to all who take the time to reply here....and.....discuss!
All right, I'm an aspiring author who has gotten a little deeper into the process than you (I'm currently querying agents), so I'll offer you some tips from what I've learned thus far:
1. REALITY CHECK! (this is where you jump up and say "Praise Jesus!" ) Seriously, take a baseball bat and hit yourself over the head. Can you handle that? Good. Then maybe, maybe you can handle the path to getting published. By the way, I'm not a negative naysayer here (I'm on your side), but I want to be extremely clear here that this is no easy road. Another reality check I want to give you: You do not KNOW anything about your novel. Let's clear that up immediately. You might want to wake up and realize that your first few works are going to be just practice. That's right, you might go through several novels before you get a bite on your work. I'm about to shelf my first one, because I've run out of agents to query it to. (fun, isn't it? lol) I've even heard authors say that the first million words are for practice. Just to give you an idea of the gravity of writing. (Don't take that literally...just realize that writing is something you get better at by doing it.)
2. Second tip, it doesn't matter how great your novel is, if you cannot put together a query letter that's going to hook an agent/publisher, you're novel is going to sit on your shelf and collect dust. Research how to write great queries and practice with them.
3. Revise, revise, revise! One revision is not enough. Two revisions are not enough. Three revisions are not enough. Get used to the idea that you are going to rewrite your novel several times by the time you are done revising. THEN, after all that crap, you'll want to send it out to beta readers to get their comments and revise again after that. Then, you'll query agents who'll want you to revise again. Then the publisher will want you to revise again. Fun, right?
4. Grow a thick skin. If there is one important thing that I can convey to you it's this. Don't take rejection personally. Remember, Gone With the Wind was rejected like 30 times before it got published. THIRTY TIMES! And it's considered one of the most classic stories of our time. This is a game of persistance. And I tell you, the rejection and harsh criticicism stings (but it's so amazingly helpful!). If you can take criticism on your babies (that's what a novel is to a writer), then you'l have half the battle won right there. So, please, make sure you can handle criticism because it takes a real masochist to get into this business.
5. Be a reader in the genre that you want to write in. I absolutely believe that you can't write saleable stuff without being an avid reader.
***
Ok, so those are my tips for the writing end of the stick. Kudos to you for wanting to pursue your dream. I commend you for it, and if you can even do half of what I just said, you deserve a pat on the back (especially since you sound like you're pretty young).
Now to even more reality. One simple fact remains:
YOU HAVE TO EAT.
Or maybe I should say, YOU HAVE TO EAT OR YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.
Is that a little more harsh and brash?
The process of getting published is a LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG process. From the conception of the story to the moment of publishing can take 2 years or more. And you won't receive a dime until it goes to publication.
How will you live in the meantime?
How will you live until you get enough works published that you garner a bit of a following for your books so that you can write to live? Despite what people say, writing isn't some lucrative career. Sure, it is if you are Stephen King. It is if you are Steve Pavlina and have a massive blog following.
But for the average author? It's not going to make you rich. You can live off of it, but it's going to take a long time before you get to the place where you can support yourself from your writing.
In the mean time? You're going to have to suck it up and get one of those jobs that you are resisting. Either that or get someone else to support you.
So there you go, I tried to be as realistic as possible for you so that you know what you are getting into.
Remember, I'm not a naysayer. I support your decision ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. Go for it man. Go balls to walls for it actually. Write until your fingers bleed and edit until your eyes pop out of your head. Seriously.
But be prepared.
Anyway, as it was pouring out of me, I realized that like 90% of this stuff has came from my experience here on this board, so I thought I'd post it here to show all of you who take the time to give advice how much I appreciate what I've learned here.
I also thought it might make for a good discussion, so if any of you have anything to add, comments, etc. feel free.
(I feel like I might have been a bit heavy handed with him. )
Anyways, thanks to all who take the time to reply here....and.....discuss!