Fiction author Robin Brande talks about writing, reading, and other vital matters

Hey, y’all, I’m about to head to Phoenix for a book signing at the Arizona Library Association conference, so I’ll be on the road and off-line for a while.

But I wanted to leave you with something to ponder, so check this out.

I think we all need to hear this more than once, and from as many authors as possible: you have to keep trying. You have to keep writing. If your first five books get rejected, go work on your sixth (which is how it was for me). If your first few published books don’t end up selling as well as you hoped, keep writing. This business favors the people who stick around. It seems so obvious, but I have to keep repeating it: 100% of the novels that are published are first finished and mailed out. 100% of the authors with multiple books on the shelves have kept writing no matter how spectacularly or dismally their previous books were received. Writing can be a hobby or it can be a career. So much of that outcome depends on your own attitude about your work. Are you shyly “trying your hand at it”? Or are you treating yourself like a professional right now, and making sure you give yourself the time and internal encouragement to keep going no matter what?

Quitters never get published. It’s easy to get discouraged, but so what? You can decide that’s your ready excuse for why you aren’t writing anymore–”It’s just too hard. All that rejection, you know”–or you can decide that you’re one of the people who isn’t deterred by all that nonsense. “Rejection? Yeah, whatever. Not my favorite thing, but I’m not going to obsess over it–too busy working on my next book. Have to get it in the mail, you know.”

Keep writing. Write to please yourself. Write all the way to the end to build confidence that you can finish books. Then establish the habit of sending out your work to agents or editors. Be brave. Mail your work, take a little break, go on to writing your next story.

It can happen–for all of us. So much of it rests with you and your decision to keep going no matter what.

Off to Phoenix. Ta-ta.

Technorati Tags: Writing, Publishing, Writers, Authors

Posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pm under Writing . Subscribe to responses: RSS 2.0 Comment Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.