Into the Writer-Verse

I think at one point in my life I imagined a writer’s life as very fantastical. Travel to wherever you wanted to find a good scene to settle into and write your book, whatever it was about. Work on your own terms, be your own boss, make money, become famous and inspire people’s imaginations.

Yeaaaah, that’s not exactly how the writer life is like for me. Granted it MIGHT and I do me MIGHT be like that when I’m much older, retired age, and my books have a little more following, if I’m lucky, but for now, I’m living at the bottom of the writer’s barrel so to speak.

I know there are tons out there, mostly those who are reading this blog actually, that are in the same position. I literally envision this picture in my head when I think about my status as a writer....

https://goo.gl/images/MhdKYy

When you first start out, you’re a big fat nobody. You face rejection at every turn, even your own! We are the best bullies to ourselves. We even gang up on ourselves after receiving a rejection letter or bad review from one person. Or ten. And then we have to be like Miles in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse and get back up. EVERY DAMN TIME.

Editing notes, though great, informative, helpful and a learning process, still beat at your confidence. Today I’m doing more proofreading before sending my manuscript to be professionally edited/critiqued. I got back my second set of editing notes for my script so as soon as I send off the manuscript, I have more notes to pour over and decipher. I need to lose 14 pages, which I knew was coming, and even more if I can manage it. Remove more scenes, add a tiny bit to a couple more. Whenever you have to add but you also need to remove such a large chunk, things get really dicey and your skill really gets tested. I’m happy I have time to work on it, since the competition’s final entry deadline isn’t until August, I believe.

All of this isn’t traveling the world, meeting new people, using them as new characters in your stories. It’s not having people recognize your name as someone who wrote their favorite book. It’s staying above water, talking yourself down from beating yourself up about getting a bad review. And if you get more than a few, accepting them and changing your writing style and tactic.

So off I go into my own Writers-Verse to do more editing and try to stay sane.

I picked this gig and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I just wanted to make sure people knew what you’re getting into before you chose the status of Writer.

Good luck everyone! Have a great Saturday!