Learning the Hard Way

As a writer there are a lot of valuable lessons to be learned even from rejections and failures. Recently I pinned all my hopes on a writing competition that I had entered, one that in the past had resulted in large publishing deals and even awards. I even planned in my head what I might wear should I make it to the launch. Dreams are really important and as a friend pointed out to be this week self belief is one of the most important things to keep.

In a desperate attempt to keep my spirits high and my writing going I've been working on a new website, furiously working out how to write a good synopsis and editing my novel with blue sticky notes and a lot of biro.

Not every great writer gets published. That's just a fact. Sometimes they languish at the bottom of slushpiles and yet the enjoyment they get from writing can be enough. Yes I'd love to be published, of course I would, but for now I'm happy trying!

Hello Again

It has been a while since I felt comfortable blogging. I think sometimes we forget that once we have put something down and published it to a blog it is there for everyone to see. I view my blog as this private little journal that only a few people bother to read but that isn't necessarily true. If someone googles my name they will find it and as a writer seeking publication it can be dangerous. A bad day resorting in a grumpy post could give an agent the wrong impression about my character. So I've been having a think about how best to use my blog and whether it is a good tool at all.

My conclusion is that social networking is a valuable tool and a blog can be too. You have this space that you can use however you like, write whatever you want on and you are responsible for making sure that it reflects the real you.

Now to news.... I am on what I like to think is my penultimate draft of Tattooing Angels. It's been a lot of hard work having started it last November for Nanowrimo and probably having worked on edits for the past nine months at least but I'm hoping it will pay off. I'm currently going through the whole thing with a fine toothcomb, getting rid of unnecessary waffle and tightening bits up. I think because I've already entered the first few chapters of this novel into two competitions I'm a little nervous about its reception. I love it but that doesn't mean the rest of the world will too and that kind of freaks me out. I always seem to get good comments at crit groups and web postings but that doesn't mean that industry professionals will see the good in it. I remember taking the first chapter to the York Writers Festival back in March, I had two one to ones and both seemed to love the idea and the first chapter but is it strong enough to stand out in a competition! I for one am not so sure.