The unpublishable first novel

[Aggy B.]

I keep seeing mentioned over and over that most the time an author's first novel is simply unpublishable. That makes sense, but I find myself wondering why?

Is it that for the vast majority of us we simply don't have the skills the first time around to craft something that's even decent? Is it an issue of learning how to work with language? Learning how to tell a good story? Finding the right idea? All of the above?

I ask because as I sort through my notes and work on outlining my current work in progress I find myself very hesitant to continue if the end result is almost certainly doomed to be put back on the shelf and never read by anyone except me. It's not that I don't want to "waste" time working on something that is, in the long run, unsellable. I just don't feel motivated to spend three months working on a first draft, and another year working on revisions to a story that is my "favorite" idea only to have to shelve it.

But then I thought, if the issue is with the writing ability shouldn't the idea be as strong as possible to help reinforce the weaker command of language. (It's raining this morning and that always puts me in an overly thoughtful frame of mind.)

Right now it seems my choices are:
A) Pick my strongest idea because I'll need all the motivation and inspiration I can get to finish my first novel.
B) Pick my weakest idea because odds are I won't ever be able to sell my first novel and it's the overall practice that counts.
C) Pick an idea that is somewhere inbetween.

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Help? Please?

[donroc]

Simply write your best, then rewrite as many drafts as necessary..

Aside from beginner's mistakes in the manuscript, the failure to sell may also lie in poor queries and/or amateurish communications with agents and publishers, the unsolicited phone call as an example. And then, there are "the dictates of the market".

[Toothpaste]

Certainly the vast number of first novels don't make it to the publishing stage, but that doesn't mean they all don't. Nor do I think should your first attempt at a novel be hampered by such thoughts. More often than not a first book is based on passion, is something the author really wants to write. More often than not the passion is what leads them to a certain level of blindness when it comes to quality. But that doesn't matter. What matters most is that you write the book you want to write. That you actually finish a book, which in the end is one of the hardest things to do in writing, even harder in some cases than getting published.

Have faith in yourself, and who knows, maybe yours will be the exception that proves the rule!

[Phaeal]

If you never write a first novel, you'll never get to write a second novel, or beyond.

A first novel may or may not be publishable, but that's not the point. The point is learning to write and learning to finish what you write, which means both the first draft and all the revisions that need to follow.

Choose your best idea for the first novel, because, yes, you'll need all the passion you can muster. Look at it this way: even if you do shelve it for a while, you can always come back to it later, when you've improved your technique to the point where you can do the idea full justice.

I agree with donroc about the double hurdles to first novel publication. Many first timers are too quick to market. They need to take more time to study submission procedures and to soak up the realities of the publishing process. Worse, they may actually get an agent to look at sample chapters, only to send unpolished work that garners a quick, discouraging rejection.

Persevere and be patient. The hardest advice is also the best advice. Ain't that always the way of it? ;P

[Gillhoughly]

As Joe Bob Briggs said,

"What you write doesn't matter, it's the practice that matters."

You don't get on stage to play a concert for paying patrons without at least 100 hours of music practice for each song. No one sees or hears that practice--you don't want them to!-- it's the final performance that matters.

Ditto for writing. Most writers, unless they're a freakin Mozart from birth, have a million words of drek in them to get out before they can get to a place where they CAN write. Even Mozart had to practice.

I had file cabinets full of drek--all shredded and thankfully forgotten now--before I got to the point of finishing something that was good enough to sell.

Even when *I* thought it was ready, the editors had other opinions and sent it back.

I rewrote that first novel at least three times, the first chapter about 25 times (on a manual typewriter!), but it did sell. What the editors did not see was all the practice that came before.

Between book one and two I spent MONTHS on a 5K story. I went through a couple reams of paper trying to get that bleeping story right. I never meant to sell it, I just wanted to make it good. Months later I had something to be proud of, and when I turned my focus on book two I found I was a considerably better writer for all that practice.

I didn't know at the time that I was getting to be a better writer. It was a burr under my saddle, a puzzle I had to solve. Turned out it was great training, too!

The practice doesn't end, either. I still make story starts that don't go anywhere, but now I know how important they are.

A) Pick my strongest idea because I'll need all the motivation and inspiration I can get to finish my first novel.

Yes. DO that!

B) Pick my weakest idea because odds are I won't ever be able to sell my first novel and it's the overall practice that count.

because lame as it seems, it turns me on--I WANT to write this and make it work!

C) Pick an idea that is somewhere inbetween.

Cut out all the navel gazing, log off of AW, and WRITE.

Don't over-think. Life's too short.

[dawinsor]

I think every writer wrestles with the question of where the main reward of writing lies for them. The problem with thinking of it as publication is that phrased that way it's out of your control and thus will drive you crazy. But if you think in terms of "getting better," "writing a story I love," "slogging through the hard parts," etc., then you have stuff that's within your control that's likely eventually to lead to publication. I want to be published. Most people here do, I think. But to get to that goal, I find I need to concentrate on the tasks right in front of me.

So get lost in your fictional world. Love it. Then step back and eye it critically with the help of feedback from informed others. Rewrite. Rejoice in seeing the story get better. It's not all exactly what I'd call "fun," but it's rewarding beyond anything else I do right now.

[NicoleMD]

I agree, pick your strongest idea, because you'll need the passion to finish. There are more great ideas for you to have, so don't try to ration them because they're not a limited supply. And don't spend your time trying to calculate percentages of success. It's a waste of time. Write. Right now. No more procrastinating. Hey, that's good advice. I think I'll go do that right now...

Nicole

[JustJess]

Great thread. I have had the same concerns-I love the ideas behind my current WIP so much that I'm afraid I'm "wasting" them by allowing them to be part of my first millions words of practice. Logically I know there will be more ideas and that, in the future, I can always come back to this novel with a more experienced eye, but emotionally it's hard to accept. Often where passion and excitement are concerned, logic tends to take a backseat.

[donroc]

Even if the first or first few do not sell, you may go back to them much later as a more experienced writer, revise and send it/them out.

[IdiotsRUs]

Even if the first or first few do not sell, you may go back to them much later as a more experienced writer, revise and send it/them out.

Worked for Stephen King

Basically I look at my first one as training. It may, or may not, ever get anywhere. But I've learnt sooo much by doing it, that the next one will be a) a lot better and b) will take a lot less time to write because I won't waste time on doing the things I did wrong the first time round. Even if it never gets published it isn't a waste because it's made my next effort better.

Was your first ever girlfriend / boyfriend a waste of time, because you didn't stick with them, or did that first relationship teach you something? ( even if it was 'never go out with a bunny boiler ever again')

[Aggy B.]

Thanks for all the advice, guys and gals.

Sorry if I sounded whiny in my previous post. I'm probably thinking about this too hard.

What had brought all these questions to mind was the realization that I actually have a finished manuscript (if I can just find the darn thing). It's really more novella length (about 170 pages) and as soon as I had finished it (thirteen years ago) I realized that it was really crap. So, I just moved on to other stuff.

Now I'm thinking that the enormous amount of work that will have to go into revising it might actually be the best thing for me. For one thing it will give me the practice that is the real kick in the pants to artistic ability and, as cliche as this story was, it is finished.

So, I'm off to dig through the boxes of drek (because I too have boxes of drek that have been accumulating over the past 15 years) and find my manuscript and start working.

[ishtar'sgate]

I keep seeing mentioned over and over that most the time an author's first novel is simply unpublishable. That makes sense, but I find myself wondering why?

Is it that for the vast majority of us we simply don't have the skills the first time around to craft something that's even decent? Is it an issue of learning how to work with language? Learning how to tell a good story? Finding the right idea? All of the above?
Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Help? Please?
While sometimes the problem may be with the quality of the writing, I think for the most part it's just plain darned hard to keep at the drudgery of sending out your manuscript, getting it rejected, sending it out again and on and on and on. As a debut novelist it's an uphill battle, there's no denying that.
Maybe my own experience will help. I don't remember how many rejections I got before I landed an agent. I spent a year with him while he tried to sell my novel and no one was interested. We parted ways and it turned out he was targeting the wrong market. So there was a year gone. I was pretty depressed for a bit but selfpity didn't last long. It took me another year of querying and sending out partials and fulls to find a publisher on my own. They wanted it for all the reasons the other publishers didn't. Much to my surprise the novel was nominated for the OLA Young Readers Choice Award and is on reading programs in high schools in Ontario and Nova Scotia with new readers being added every month.
You can't imagine how many times I wanted to give up, how many times I thought well, this is just crap so no one will buy it. But I'm a dog with a bone and I don't give up all that easily. I think that's the key. If you love your story and think others will enjoy reading it then don't give up.
Tenacity is a first time author's best friend.:D
Linnea

[maestrowork]

Just write. You'll know if your first, second... are trunk novels or not. But if you don't write the first, you will never get to write your second, third, etc. That's how writers grow and improve, and even if your first book does end up in the trunk, at least you will get better, and have the satisfaction that you've finished something you started (plus the possibility of going back and revising the thing to publishable quality).

Some people actually manage to get their first book published, too. So it's possible.

[kristie911]

Just because your first novel may end up being unpublishable doesn't mean the experience was wasted. It doesn't even mean the idea was wasted...or the characters.

My first novel was unpublishable...but I still love the idea and the characters and see a future for both. It just needs to be done all over and in a better way. :)

Don't give up...most people have to practice to be good at something and writing is no different!

[Provrb1810meggy]

My first novel I finished was an idea I absolutely loved. I probably wouldn't have finished if I hadn't been that enthusiastic about it.

Still, it didn't get published.

(Not to say you won't get yours published. If a book is good, it's good, no matter if it's the writer's first, second, third, or seventy-seventh effort!)

I am not upset about wasting the idea, though. Other ideas came along that I loved, and the same will probably happen for you. You could even go back to that beloved, first novel idea one day and fix it up.

[Erin]

I consider my first (adult-written) novel my master's thesis in my own creative writing "program". I wrote, revised, re-wrote and revised it several times, all the while learning how to structure and write a novel. I thought the same thing you did, that it would never get published because it's my first, etc. But I knew it was gaining me valuable experience even if it never saw the light of day. But I'm happy to say that it got published (it releases this coming week from a small press). So don't give up. Finish that novel, get your first one done and under your belt. Polish it to death, submit it, and start your second one.

[Karen Duvall]

My first novel didn't sell, but it was a great experience and taught me so much about writing, and about the publishing business. It got me my first agent, and I rewrote it start to finish 3 times. Though it never sold, it made the rounds to editors and I got great feedback. So the first novel is a very valuable tool in the fiction writer's toolbox (shades of Stephen King here). Do it. Then write the next one after that. And the next one. See where it takes you.

I love this saying: Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. And isn't that worth the trouble of trying?

[Oberon]

All good advice from experienced writers. I, less experienced in novels, agree with them. One thing not mentioned is the catch 22. If you have published a novel, your reception will be much kinder and considerate when you submit your second, third, etc., and if you become a best seller you can probably publish anything; haul out the trunk and resubmit the junk. It's not always the "unpublishable" novel that is rejected, it is too often the "first novel."

Whatever happens, you are a writer, you're serious about your writing, so write. when you have something you are pretty sure others would enjoy reading, launch it and don't sweat the rejections.

I should practice what I preach. I have two novels I have tried to find an agent for, and have fallen into a funk. I stopped querying. Now everything I write seems childish to me. I need a shot in the arm, or some kind of shot of something. We all suffer, it's a requirement.

[timewaster]

I sold my first novel - lot's of people do. It isn't a rule - it's a probability. Write it as well as you can, accept that many first novels don't sell but don't let that fact put you off. You should give it your best shot.

[angeliz2k]

Well, if you wanna get techincal, my first actual novel was finished in eleventh grade. Yes, I'm serious; I simply started young. I know it really isn't publishable as is. I'd been working on that idea for many moons, since I really started to write when I was quite young. It had morphed significantly by the time I finished it. I've put it aside.

My first real serious novel has been finished for a year or so now. After a hiccup, I'm back to sending it around to agents.

You hear that first novels never get published and that it's almost impossible for new authors to be published. That simply isn't logical, or there wouldn't be any books on the shelves! I keep telling myself that new authors are published all the time and that agents have to look for new authors to keep themselves going.

[Wolvel]

Don't dwell on if you should quit and write something else, until you finish one you won't have your first novel.

Write the best story you can, then edit, edit , edit, and edit some more to make it the best you can.

Once that is done study up on here on how to propely query an agent, you know the dos and don'ts.

Any questions check the slogan under my user name.

[Jersey Chick]

I go with A as well - many first novels aren't publishable at first. But they give you the opportunity to hone your craft. And you can always go back with it.

My Samhain release was my first novel. In its original form, it was perfectly terrible - but after I had a few manuscripts behind me, I picked it up, dusted it off, rewrote most of it - and sold it. So you never know what that first novel's eventual fate will be.

[Eldritch]

I keep seeing mentioned over and over that most the time an author's first novel is simply unpublishable. That makes sense, but I find myself wondering why?

I've heard it said that we all have a bunch of crap in our heads, and we have to write it all out before we ever get down to the good stuff.

[Susan Breen]

You're probably not going to marry your first boyfriend either, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't date. It's all a journey.

[illiterwrite]

My first novel didn't sell, but it DID land me an agent.

[Birol]

I have known people who did sell their first novel. For the rest, the first novel was a much needed learning experience.

What's important to remember is, if you don't finish this book, then you will never get past your first book. You have to finish one before you can have a first book that does or does not sell.

[Constantine K]

When I first started writing, I asked myself if I would continue doing so even if I knew I would never sell a single book.

I answered yes . . . so I write. (Not that I won't try my damndest to get published.)

I think it's a great question for every writer. Would you write if you knew you'd never sell? Answer honest now.

[Juniper1]

It's a question I've been thinking about recently as well. For me the idea (and on a few days the reality) of not writing has become painful, so the basic question of whether or not to write is easy.

It seems from what I have been reading here at AW that acchieving publication is a separate vocation from that of writing. As someone who hasn't even reached the point of working on publication I admit a general ignorance around much of it but it often appears to require more than just skill at the craft of writing. So for me, for now, I try to stay focused on what writing brings me. I may find I stink at the work of trying to publish but working on this first novel still makes my heart sing.

[Axelle]

Would you write if you knew you'd never sell? Answer honest now.

Definitely ! I've asked myself that question before.
Actually, it's even easier to answer if you word it differently : do you write only to get money and/or recognition out of it ?

If that was the case... well, there are easier ways to earn these that spending rewardless months on a manuscript.

[demonhamster]

I really appreciate all the encouraging comments on this thread. I'm in the planning stages of my first novel now - a rough outline, some character sketches, and a lot of pieces just floating in my head - and the whole thing is very intimidating. A big part of why I want to write this book is to improve my own writing, as I know that I have a long way to go on many fronts. That said, I think it's an interesting story and I do have a faint glimmer of hope that I might produce something readable. It's a long road though, and that first step is terrifying. I suspect I may have an angst-ridden post or two up on this board before the first draft is finished.

As for the original post on this thread, my only advice is to just go ahead and start. Pick the best idea you have and dive in. You may not produce an immortal masterwork, but you'll learn a lot along the way. It takes guts to even start.

[Aggy B.]

Would I still write if I knew I would never sell anything? Yes.

Would I spend hours and days and months trying to perfect that craft if I knew I was writing it purely for me? Probably not.

Maybe I'm just a pragmatist, but I don't invest a lot of time in things unless I can see the potential to gain some sort of reward down the line. I love to sing, but I know that I will never be good enough to front a band or record an album or even get a gig at a wedding. That does not mean I don't sing all the time. It just means I'm not going to spend oodles of time or money on an activity that is essentially a hobby.

I write because I want to sell my stories. If publication were not part of my goal of improving as a writer I doubt I would write nearly as much. Sure, I've been struck by the undeniable urge to write before; when you can't do anything else until you get something down on paper. But if the stories were just for me I wouldn't bother trying to write them out. I already have them in my head, I don't need to read them.

But now I'm off to try and reconstruct an outline for my lone, finished novel. I still haven't located the original manuscript (though I did find three chapters from the middle floating in a stack of other really bad material from the same period) but I know that I haven't thrown it away. It's just a question of finding the right box in storage.

[Prawn]

It's like the first time you make love. It may have moments of beauty, and it will always be a powerful experience for you, but it may not be your best.

[Jenan Mac]

Definitely pick your strongest idea, and go with it. And when you get to where you're writing your second novel, pick the strongest. And so on down the line.
What may be a second-value idea now may be totally it a year from now, once it's had time to mellow. And if you save something thinking "eh, I'll write it when I can do it justice", it may totally lose its appeal by then. Or for that matter, you may just think of something else entirely.

[mscelina]

My firat novel was written in 1985. It was dreadful. I threw it away, but the idea still lingered in my mind. So, in 2002, it was written again. This version of the story was vastly different from my first attempt.

And it did get published. :)

So you see, nothing is impossible. While the old adage may make you think that your novel is 'unpublishable' it's not necessarily true. Anything can be accomplished with honest work (and that includes as many rewrites as it takes) and the will to succeed.

Good luck!

[Susan Lanigan]

My unpublishable first novel was publishable as far as chapter one, two and three - the problem was I wrote it over a period of 3-4 years and the quality of my writing changed over that time (from crap to reasonable) but not quickly enough to change a plot that had sunk.)

So moral of the story is: write the thing reasonably quickly!

All the best

Susan (35K into second unpublishable novel!!)

[Manat]

I sold my first. It was a work of love, I didn't know the market. My queries improved as time when on and I was tenacious. Still I couldn't land an agent until after I found a publisher. You may or may not sell your first, but you're certainly going to learn a lot of very valuable lessons from it. Some will be about the writing, and a lot more will be about the business(agents, queries, synopsis, promotion etc. etc.) You won't learn any of it without doing the best you can to write revise and polish, followed by the best you can to find an agent and publisher and sell your book. I'd say start seriously with your first. Do your best. If it sells great. If it doesn't you'll have learnt a lot you need to know and might be able to sell it sometime down the road

[hammerklavier]

Right now it seems my choices are:
A) Pick my strongest idea because I'll need all the motivation and inspiration I can get to finish my first novel.
B) Pick my weakest idea because odds are I won't ever be able to sell my first novel and it's the overall practice that counts.
C) Pick an idea that is somewhere inbetween.

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Help? Please?

Pick your strongest idea because you'll need the motivation and inspiration and you just might get published and as a new author you'll need a big idea to get the book published.

After that, if you can turn your weakest idea into a good book, you'll know that you're a good writer.

[blacbird]

When I first started writing, I asked myself if I would continue doing so even if I knew I would never sell a single book.

I answered yes . . . so I write. (Not that I won't try my damndest to get published.)

I think it's a great question for every writer. Would you write if you knew you'd never sell? Answer honest now.

Since I now know, based on unequivocal evidence, that I don't have a squid's chance of ever selling a book, this is a tough question weighing heavily on my mind. That's as honest an answer as I can give.

caw

[Constantine K]

Since I now know, based on unequivocal evidence, that I don't have a squid's chance of ever selling a book, this is a tough question weighing heavily on my mind. That's as honest an answer as I can give.

caw


What kind of evidence? I think with enough hard work and practice, anyone with half an imagination could do it . . .

If they want it bad enough!

So really, why do you think you couldn't ever sell?

[TrishD]

Write your strongest. Write your best. First novels DO sell. Mine did.

[ACEnders]

Worked for Stephen King

Basically I look at my first one as training. It may, or may not, ever get anywhere. But I've learnt sooo much by doing it, that the next one will be a) a lot better and b) will take a lot less time to write because I won't waste time on doing the things I did wrong the first time round. Even if it never gets published it isn't a waste because it's made my next effort better.



I agree completely with this.

First of all - if you're writing only to get it published, then you may not ever get published. That's my humble, un-agented opinion.

Second of all - you have to get that first novel written because you learn so much from it! I learned so much. I self-published my first novel for friends and family, and the high I got off the printed copy is amazing! I WANT to be published in the worst way. But I don't know if that book every will. I've written another that's in the revision process, and I'm working on a third, and I know I'm getting better. With every word I type, every chapter I finish...I'm getting better.

Write to write. Write to express your ideas, your dreams, your thoughts and emotions. Write to practice. Everything else is icing on the cake.

[CreativeDreamer]

Write what you love. You will learn along the way through editing and helpful sites like these. No matter what, your first book, published or not, will at least be a great learning experience.

[LC030308]

I write to entertain others with my stories. If I can have many people read my material and enjoy it, that's a major reward in itself. Of course...Publishing would be optimal...

[kullervo]

On a calm evening I like to stand outside and look up at the stars. And there, in the darkness and the silence, I can still hear my first book suck.

Because it is hanging in space for all eternity, sucking. Only I can hear it. Nobody else will ever hear it. Or read it.

But it's there...

[Cassidy]

My first novel sold but I wrote three drafts and then-- after all that-- I completely re-wrote it. Just about every word. I learned tons from it all, so even if it hadn't been published the whole writing and revising process would have been worth it. And I enjoyed it all anyway.

[Jackfishwoman]

It seems like a lot of it comes down to luck (unfortunately) and not so much talent. Publishers & agents seem to be looking for what is marketable at that given point in time.
I have read some first novels that are, well, pretty bad. But other first-timers have the gift. I was just reading about Mary Lawson who had her first novel (Crow Lake) published a few years back. She said that she approached multiple agents and publishers and all turned it down. Then one agent took interest and all of a sudden there was a bidding war for the manuscript. Lawson said she just couldn't understand it because she made no revisions from the manuscript that was previously rejected. So what changed? Who knows. Maybe she lucked out and scored a really good agent; maybe all of a sudden her subject matter was cool. Lawson just chalked it up to plain old luck. (Not that she's not talented though!!)

[blacbird]

I write to entertain others with my stories. If I can have many people read my material and enjoy it, that's a major reward in itself.

And you do that without getting it published . . . how?

caw

[LC030308]

Networking with people I come in contact with. I have had about 300 people (that aren't my friends) read my novel,(it's been submitted to publishers) and I think if you can get people into the story, they will tell others... (Lucky for me, I have a industrial laser printer, and boxes of copy paper.

[KikiteNeko]

Just write the best that you can and don't worry. Some first novels make it, and some don't. And there can be about a million reasons for the latter. Remember that a lot of first novels may not make it because it was the author's first shot at writing in general. Or okay, here's my case.

I sweated bullets writing a novel that took me a little less than two years to complete. It was my first novel, though I've been writing (unpublished, but always practicing for a novel) since I was a kid. I did the best job I could. I proofread, I polished, I sent it off.

One agent read the partial and said "Try me with another story sometime." When I asked him what turned him off, he called my writing "dazzling" and said my plot "lacked urgency." So okay, I moved on. Another agent enthusiastically requested a full, and read it within nine days. She opened her email to me with "It is abundantly clear that you are a seriously talented writer" (I open and reread that sometimes when I need to feel good about my writing). She declined to offer representation, and point blank told me that there wasn't enough urgency to my plot. She said that for my writing, my FIRST NOVEL should be a breakout success in order to do well in a competitive market. That agent is now interested in my second novel, which I am still writing.

What have I learned? Talent isn't enough. So far I've been fortunate to get agents who gave me helpful feedback as to why they were rejecting my novel. I've come to the conclusion that, although first novelists may not be new to writing, they may be new to the business aspect of publication (assuming they aren't published in some other way, like a magazine or poetry compilation). When you start out as a new writer, you're putting your name into the world and saying "World, this is what I (name) am selling you." Readers are going to compare you to this author and that author, and if they don't like your first book, brilliant though your writing may be, your sales for a second novel are already looking grim.

Agents want, and this is contrary to popular belief, to love your writing. They want to see something saleable and something that can be a breakout success. If your novel gets rejected on its first go, don't be discouraged. It'll sting (and trust me, it stung like hell to hear that a book I'd lost a month's worth of sleep writing wasn't good enough). But you get better each time.

[KikiteNeko]

Duh, steal people's newspapers and leave your manuscript on their doorstep and run away! (That's what I do)

And you do that without getting it published . . . how?

caw

[David I]

Lots of famous writers don't get published until they've written a few. Your fourth novel being your first published novel seems to be quite common.

But it's not all that unusual for a first novel to be published. It happens. (And those writers are often shocked when their second novel is rejected right and left. I know three people who pubbed the first time out and ran into brick walls on novel #2.)

To be a writer at all, you have to be a little bit schizophrenic. At one moment you have to believe that you're writing the best thing ever put on paper; at another, you have to believe that what you're writing is probably crap. (You also have to serious but playful; identified completely with your work but able to stand back from it; writing the book you want to write, but ever-mindful of your audience; and a dozen other Jekyll-and-Hyde things.

My advice: write everything as if it counts. Never think "I'm practicing." Never think "I'm wasting good ideas here." Write your masterpiece.

And then, when you're done, be willing to accept that it might have only been practice. But what does it matter? Because by then you're writing the real masterpiece...

Pay no attention to the statistics. As Chuck 'The Right Stuff' Yeager said, "When the dream is big enough, the odds don't matter."

[KikiteNeko]

To be a writer at all, you have to be a little bit schizophrenic. At one moment you have to believe that you're writing the best thing ever put on paper; at another, you have to believe that what you're writing is probably crap.


I'll raise my glass to that.