Now that my thriller, LADYKILLER, has been out six weeks and much of the touring, signings, drop-bys, bloggings, updates and phone-ins are over, I've had time to think about how much fun I've been having. And it has been fun.
Signing books for friends! Signing books for strangers! Talking about the book to people who have read it! The poster with our photo in independent bookstores like the Black Orchid. Seeing it on the shelves and sometimes on the special display racks in Borders and Barnes & Noble. Going to mystery cons and having a new book to talk about on the panels.
What could be more satisfying?
And what could be worse than never having it happen again?
My husband (and co-author of this book) is a steady writer. He writes nearly every day and with great concentration and amazing output.
Me? I write sporadically. To paraphrase the Ramones, writing comes in spurts.
At LADYKILLER's pub date, I had a short story started and a novel outlined and maybe a third written. I stopped to enjoy the ride.
Now I've started writing again, panicked that I will never have this kind of fun again.
This weekend, I nearly finished the short story. My research for the novel is beckoning. I've set it, strangely, in a state I've never visited, so I have a lot of work to do. And I'll do it. So I can have fun.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
More on What Motivates Us
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3 comments:
Meredith, nothing wrong with enjoying the ride. And what a great motivation that ride must be! I am not good at links but if you want to see a more jaded view, although he comes around at the end, see Joe Konrath's May 23rd post. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
Joe does point out that writing is, after all, a job.
I love that you set your next novel in a place you've never been. Isn't it amazing how people and places just come to us and they are "IT." You just know it's right.
Terrie
Meredith,
Hope you hear the continuing applause from my end of the writing chain. Mega Kudos!
Stopping to smell the success is certainly a smart thing to do - like a bride on her wedding day, taking it all in, enjoying the celebration.
And, in my virually unpublished experience, despite the dust piles atop several manuscripts, those of us who write can't avoid it. It is part of our chemistry. Sure, we can procrastinate or search for our muses, but it's there - the need to write - the need to figure things out, unscramble the chaos of life, set things in order.
Research and reading are my best cures for writer's block. Curiosity builds as I read and research. I wonder what another person's take would be on the worlds I'm exploring via the printed page. Next thing you know, I'm off and running to jot down thoughts and questions. Inevitably the pen in hand or the computer on my lap will take on a life of its own.
Next thing you know, I've got all this kind of stuff spewing out, and a manuscript in the making, too.
Thanks for your showing us the uncertainties facing even a well-received writer like yourself. It's good to know we're not alone in our what-if fears.
Write On!
Nan
Here I'd always thought the touring and marketing aspect of the business would be the worst part!
Writing's bliss. Publishing - or rather seeking to be so - is the pits. Marketing's the most fun you can imagine having? I'm encouraged! Two out of three ain't half bad.
Lois
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