- Joined
- Aug 3, 2020
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 2
I wrote a Sci-Fi book a few years ago. It succeeded several half-written books and lots of scrappy short stories. It was very long (in 3 parts) and very special to me. I thought I knew everything about writing and didn't need any advice. I thought it was brilliant (I cried writing the ending); no one would read it. Of friends who politely tried, I don't think anyone got more than a couple of chapters in - no one would really say why, and I didn't want to hassle them. I agreed an exchange with someone on here, read all 80,000 words of their book, gave them constructive and detailed feedback on each chapter, then sent them my book to read in return. They replied to say they had read the first 5 pages and didn't like the style so they weren't going to read any more!
I got some pretty harsh feedback on a small section, from someone in another forum, and then began to lose faith in the project. Objectively, it is niche appeal and it was hard even trying to write a query. I sent it to one agent so I could feel like a "proper" failed writer. As expected, they rejected it. I then tried to self publish on Wattpad. I drip-fed it one chapter at a time (as they recommend) but interest vanished after a while.
I then decided to give up on writing (in a huff). I retrained as a teacher and discovered (to my surprise) that my grammar was awful, and my book may not have been as well written as I thought.
I feel more balanced about it now. No one asked me to write a book and the world doesn't owe me anyone reading it; nevertheless; and unbidden, I seem to have got the bug again and am writing another book. This time with a much more humble attitude. Whenever I read, I try and think about how I can learn from good writing.
I'm not expecting to write a best seller (or even an any seller). It would be nice to have some readers though! How do you all find beta readers? If you have a lot of amateur writing behind you, how do you stay motivated?
I got some pretty harsh feedback on a small section, from someone in another forum, and then began to lose faith in the project. Objectively, it is niche appeal and it was hard even trying to write a query. I sent it to one agent so I could feel like a "proper" failed writer. As expected, they rejected it. I then tried to self publish on Wattpad. I drip-fed it one chapter at a time (as they recommend) but interest vanished after a while.
I then decided to give up on writing (in a huff). I retrained as a teacher and discovered (to my surprise) that my grammar was awful, and my book may not have been as well written as I thought.
I feel more balanced about it now. No one asked me to write a book and the world doesn't owe me anyone reading it; nevertheless; and unbidden, I seem to have got the bug again and am writing another book. This time with a much more humble attitude. Whenever I read, I try and think about how I can learn from good writing.
I'm not expecting to write a best seller (or even an any seller). It would be nice to have some readers though! How do you all find beta readers? If you have a lot of amateur writing behind you, how do you stay motivated?