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Now, this was how I felt up until a couple of days ago. I struggled to write Ashes and Spirits, the last book in my Dragon’s Call trilogy because what if I screwed it up? What if I disappointed my readers?What if… It can run terribly rampant if you give it half a chance.
I also felt a great deal of stress over my next release. I have a paranormal romance coming out in March 2014. What if I didn’t write paranormal romance very well? What if the story I created was actually crap? And what if my fantasy readers were horribly disappointed that my next release isn’t Ashes and Spirits? That a paranormal romance was coming out before the final book in the Dragon’s Call trilogy?
And then I watched Neil Gaiman’s speech (the one I shared here on my blog and on my FB author page) and realized something. I had let a lot of unnecessary stupid stuff intrude into my writing. Do I still care about disappointing my readers? Of course I do, but I can’t think of that right now.
I’m taking myself back to when it was simple. I’m not worried about reviews or getting hung up on rank and where it is or where it might not be a couple of weeks or even months from now. I will market when I come across something that looks valuable but I’m not going to constantly beat the bushes for it anymore.
When I began writing Embers, which was my first book, I never thought it would be published in any way. I just had characters in my head and their story had to be told. Even if Embers had never made it off my hard drive, I would still have written all three books, because I had to and enjoy writing.
I got a three star review on Tears last night and I find that it in no way stings. I am totally unaffected by it. Why? Because I wrote the story in my head and in my heart. It isn’t going to be for everyone and that’s okay. Sales and good reviews are icing on a cake I’m already thoroughly enjoying each time I write and bring my story and characters to life.
Don’t get me wrong, I value each and every one of my readers beyond measure and believe me, I love it when I here from you.
But I’m going to immerse myself in my writing and go back to enjoying it. I’m going to have fun. Instead of dancing like no one is watching, I’m going to write like I have nothing published if you get what I mean.
I’m going to fall in love with my characters and story all over again. In the words of Neil Gaiman, I’m going to make good art as only I know how. I’m going to enjoy the success of merely holding my books in my hands. If sales and good reviews come, it will be sweet icing. If not, I still got to eat a lovely cake.
Reblogged this on MY BLOG13 and commented:
🙂
*hugs* You know I’ll always be one of your biggest fans!
And I’ll always be one of yours. You haven’t written anything yet that I didn’t love. 🙂
This reminds me of a VERY inspiring talk from the author of Eat, Pray, Love.
I can so related her speech! Just wow! Thank you for sharing it!
Excellent blog and excellent advice. Your writing is awesome, never forget that ❤
I feel better about my writing now and I’m looking forward to following my characters through Ashes and Spirits. 🙂
Great advice, Audra! We can all use this reminder on a regular basis. Happy writing. 🙂
Glad you found it helpful. It’s definitely a good thing to step back and look at why we all began writing in the first place. Personally, I don’t know a single author who started their first book thinking of making money, or ranks, or where to market next.
Reblogged this on Voracious Reader.
i’m glad you’re re-found the joy of writing. it is hard when other things begin to pull you in so many different directions. but the most important thing is ‘writing’, ‘creating’, translating into words the scenes and characters dancing in our heads. i’m glad you’re back to simplicity and no worries 🙂
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I can’t write, I can’t type. I can only imagine the pain involved in putting together 400-500 pages of greAt fiction. I can read, I have really enjoyed your story. Looking forward to more 🙂
Thank you so much! I love hearing from readers. Sometimes the words flow like a waterfall and other times it’s like the faucet is clogged. In the end though, it’s worth every moment and every word. And as a bonus, people think it’s perfectly okay if I have voices in my head and spend half my time in an imaginary world. 🙂