Loving Jane Austen

I think one of the best ways to learn about writing is to read lots of it. Discover what you like and what you don't like, then try to understand exactly what it is you do or don't like about it...

In the last few weeks I have been revisiting one of my favourite authors - Jane Austen. Why do I and so many others enjoy reading and re-reading her books so much? We know what happens, yet still they appear fresh and new. Sometimes we fall a little in love with Elizabeth or Emma or Mr Darcy, and sometimes they irritate the life out of us.

I am currently cross with Emma - she has fallen out of favour. I used to love her, but lately I keep being reminded of how limited she can be. But then she is a creature of her time and her upbringing, and at her heart she is kind. Faulty, but kind. I love that Mr Knightley calls her on her bad behaviour - isn't it time that all of us started to take more responsibility for our actions?

This book is as relevant today as it was when Austen wrote it - and that is one of the reasons we love it. But how does she achieve this? - that is the question. Just one of the many I ponder as I try to write my own works. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the scenes and characters that grow in our minds will also resonate with thousands of others for decades (or centuries) to come. Imagine...

Should authors have different pen-names for different genres?

In the past, most authors seem to have used different pen-names for writing different sorts of work. But I wonder whether that is still as relevant today as it has been? More specifically, I have been wondering about whether I should write in different genres under a different name. I have several projects on the go, from novels and a screenplay to a romance and an historical drama.

I wonder about the benefits and dis-benefits of having different pen-names for each genre. On the one hand, you can keep your work separate so that it is not confused with other pieces... Fans of novels may not be interested in romances or historic drama and vice versa. On the other hand, if one is considering e-publishing and self-publishing for some of the books, it would make it easier to keep them together and publicise them from one place...

I don't know the answer to this and would be interested in the experiences of other writers.

Joanna Penn has a good article on this - check out http://bit.ly/L79dn3

PS. I am currently finishing off a contemporary omance series and a historical romance set in French Revolution. I am thinking of keeping the same author name for both... One website... Any thoughts?

The search for beta readers

A week ago I was agonizing about who I would share my first book with, and whether I would be brave enough to let it go. And now I have shared it with 7 beta-readers!

I set my self the goal of thinking of one person who might be interested every day, and then approached them and gingerly asked if they'd be interested in being a guinea-pig. Just that small step took a lot of emotional energy I can tell you. I have to say I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm of those who agreed to beta-read my first book. So here goes...

I have finally shared my work with the world (or at least a very small part of it). That means I am one step closer to getting ready for publication. So far, this has been the hardest step, so it feels good to have got over it... Let's hope I get some helpful (and preferably positive feedback). :-)

Writer's block?

Are you feeling a bit uninspired today? Don't feel you've got anything to say? A bit tired and too many other things on your mind - perhaps no new ideas for your story either?...

Stop making excuses! You don't need to be inspired or even to have an idea of what will happen next, just sit down and try to write something. Read through where you got to last time - chances are something will flow from there. You'll slowly get back into the world of your characters, and then new scenes and ideas will emerge. Just read a bit and then write a bit, and suddenly it should start to flow again,. But nothing will happen if you don't at least sit down with it and try.

Just remember, you can't write a book all at once, you can only do it a little bit at a time. It's a bit like eating an elephant!

Finding some beta readers

It is all very well to finish writing your first book, to check it and then recheck it. Then leave it for a while, then check and recheck... etc. But so many of the author websites out there remind us that we also need to find beta-readers. People who like the genre and read lots of books in it, so understand what works and what doesn't.

I have found it hard to find the right beta readers - writing is such a personal thing for me and it is hard to let it go. But I have done it and finally sent one of my books to a friend who has said she is interested. :-) Now I just need to find some more. Joanna Penn recommends 6-8 beta readers!

Do I need to find a traditional publishing company or should I consider self publishing?

Wow. I have recently had a bit of an epiphany on this. For all the years that I have been dreaming of becoming an author, I have been assuming that I wouldn't be satisfied unless I was published by a bona fide publishing company with a wide distribution. The whole idea of a 'vanity press' made me shudder - how could I claim to be a true author if I had to pay someone to print my books? And who would want them?

BUT the tides they have been achanging, and there are quite a few conversations and insights out there which talk about the advantages of becoming an independent author and using some of the relatively new (and very cheap) platforms for e-publishing via Amazon et al.

I think I might be a convert - I have seen some of the figures. You may not reach the same number of readers that you would with conventional publishing companies, but you should be able to get a much larger slab of the takings and you get to retain the rights so you can issue your book in other formats whenever you want.

And best of all for those of us new to the world of writing and publishing, it is relatively affordable and you don't have to face 100's of rejections. You certainly will still need to get your work professionally edited and ensure it is something you can be proud of, but you don't need to be weighed down by the years of plodding through the mire of trying to get noticed by conventional publishers (which seems to be a bit of a lottery by some accounts). So that's worth thinking about.

There can also be quite a bit of flexibility with the self-publishing route. If the e-Book starts to do OK, you could consider printing out hard-copies (one at a time or in small runs), and even sell them through distributors so you don't have to handle the hassles of postage yourself. Things are looking up.

I am very grateful to the many wonderful people who have shared their experiences in the world of writing and publishing, as they have helped me to realise that my preconceptions were stuck in the past and it is time to think about the new opportunities we have.

In particular, I would like to recommend an outstanding website I have found recently:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

Thanks Joanna Penn for sharing so much great information with us all.

Here is another good article on self publishing... there are many good reasons for considering it:
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2014/02/why-you-should-self-publish-your-next-book/

Do I need an agent?

I have been researching this on the web for a while. Do I need an agent to get published? Will that help me to get published? And if I do want to find an agent - where do I look and how do I attract one?

I have read blog after blog and website after website on this and I have come to a few conclusions:

• An agent is great if you want to ensure you get a good deal and have exposure to a wide range of publishers.
• If an agent represents your work and recommends it to publishers, you are more likely to have your work read and taken seriously by the publishers.
• It could be almost as hard to find an agent as it is to find a publisher. In both cases you have to find someone who likes your work
• When we have gone through the pain and suffering of producing our first novel, do we really feel strong enough to face the scores of rejections that seem to be par for the course - and have them from both publishers and agents?
• The easiest way to find a good agent is to have credibility as an author (ie, to have either published something already (with good sales if self-published), or to have been offered a contract by a publishing company).

 Conclusion: this whole thing seems to be a Catch 22. It all sounds rather daunting.

So what's the first step to becoming an author?

Well obviously I had to actually write something - something that I would want to read, but more importantly, something that other people would want to read too... I had been dreaming of it for years, had even had the temerity to mention to a few people that I wanted to be an author. So where was my credibility? And how would I know my writing would be worth reading?

I have read thousands of books, I know what I like, I know the sorts of characters who engage me, the sorts of stories that carry me along. That gets me part of the way there. But there is so much more to it than that...

The most important thing though is not to get bogged down by all the reasons why you shouldn't be writing. Just start. Often the hardest thing is starting.... And don't expect that every idea you have will turn into a full-length novel or even a shorter novella. Some stories just won't fly.

My first attempt at writing a book flowed beautifully. I spent days writing for hours on end and the characters and story-lines just flew onto the page. I loved it - but then it stalled. For no particular reason it just stopped emerging. I couldn't think where it would go next, and so I shelved it.

A few months later, I started another book, but again it didn't get very far. I began to wonder if I would ever actually finish a book. Surely if I couldn't actually finish a book, then I couldn't call myself a writer. But I tried not to lose heart and kept practicing by writing down ideas and scenes, until suddenly one of my books went all the way. The story and characters grew and (to my mind) progressed and reached a satisfying conclusion. Definitely time to celebrate. Yep.

But now what? Then its time for the hard stuff... editing, sharing, redrafting, editing, redrafting, publishing, promoting, etc., etc. Now it's time for some serious research...

I have dreamed of becoming a published writer for years. It is time for action.

OK - so you want to be a writer - but where do you start? And once you have started, what then? These are the questions I have been asking myself for years.

Luckily there are thousands upon thousands of helpful (and not so helpful) websites and blogs out there to help people like me. But how to sort through them? I will keep track of my journey on this blog, and with any luck, some of my experiences may then help other writers with similar dreams.