What you are about to read troubles me. I don’t want to sound superior or like a know-it-all, but I firmly believe the writing craft must not be taken lightly.
99% of writers cannot work in a vacuum. Some love the thought of sitting in their little lair, writing the blockbuster novel that takes the world by storm. The fact that J. K. Rowling wrote part of the first Harry Potter book in a coffee shop may have romanticized the thought.
For me, writing is writing. Taking precious time to go to a coffee shop, ordering a mocha-latte-whatever, and penning a few words while discretely watching interesting people may seem poetic. However, it won’t get the chapters completed. But, we each have a “setting” that works for us.
Ensconced in your lair, never sharing your work with Beta Readers or Critique Partners may not help the novel either. It is easy to fall in love with your clever and provocative writing in a provincial setting. With no outside commentary, the book becomes bigger than life, and flaws are ignored in the reverie of the minute.
Working in a romanticized environment and never sharing works in progress set the writer up for a world of hurt. If the book is queried, the agent knows nothing of your writing lair or the romance of the moment the words were written. She is looking at plot, grammar, and most of all, marketability. If your opening doesn’t show the main character, her/his state of mind, plan, and his/her stakes in that plan, the agent probably won’t request a Full.
Perceived harshness of agents and editors or the inability to secure representation may push one into the world of self-publishing. Like romanticizing the “writing act” and working in a vacuum, self-publishing has its critics. Agents probably won’t look at your published book, but readers may. (How Many Readers? Read the Platform article.) Think of your readers as if they were agents. Readers are judgemental, and they have every right to be—they paid to read your book!
Amazon’s “Look Inside” allows the reader to be like the agent reading your first pages. If the reader asks for a “Full”—buys the book—they have more of your writing to love or criticize. Most readers won’t publically criticize the book, but they may be telling their friends, “Don’t waste your money on that one.”
All this is to say; writing is not easy. It is a romantic quest, penning your words and thoughts, but to get the book right, it takes hours of editing. If you can’t take criticism, you may want to consider another form of expression or profession. Remember, there are film, book, and theater critics—folks who make a living giving critiques. Sometimes they are wrong, but I look at reviews. If most think it’s a stinker, I shy away. One way or the other, your book will be evaluated. Don’t work in a vacuum.
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