Writing Wednesday: The Year

 

Writing Wednesday

Year in Review

 

This year is in the bag, well, almost. Looking back at my writing journey this year, I am a little in awe of my progress. My original plan was to just have my book being sent to an editor. Instead, I am gearing up for its release.

Along the way this year, I did learn a good deal. The draft I sent to my editor was full of rookie mistakes. The input I received from my editors has had an impact on my writing, for good.

One day, I knew eventually I would have to decide whether I really want to publish or just let this be a hobby. I think many writers start out as a fun way to spend some time and release some stress. I know when I was spending time each day writing, I sure did feel less pressure. That writing did include working on my book and just writing down stories from my past. It was therapeutic.

Way back almost a year ago, I struggled with splitting the big massive book I had written into two separate works. Along the way, I had idea after idea hitting me, so I was also working on those as well. Eventually, I started to focus more and more on the first book.

I do have to admit I had no clear idea of what I was doing. And I had even less of a picture on the process of getting a book edited for publication. I do work with a man who had a book published who started to give me advice. I am not trying to be mean, but he was so far off base, and I so glad I did not follow what he said. His advice did lead me to investigate, but I quickly found out he really didn’t have a clue.

The most significant help was finding a couple of new author groups on Facebook. Slowing the ideas, I had evaporated, and the better information began to condense. One big help was reading, both romance and non-romance books. I have gone through spurts of reading and not reading over the last few years. Sometimes I would plow through book after book; other times, I would trudge through them.

I will leave names out because if I don’t mention somebody, I don’t want to offend anyone. Another wonderful thing that happened is I ran across a group on Facebook dedicated to just Romance Writers, Romance Writers Support League (RWSL).

As I am sure, we all know from different groups we have joined on Facebook, some real jerks in those groups when a new person asks a question. And some groups are not at all welcoming to newer members. But, to brag on RWSL, I have not seen that happen. The ladies in the group have been helpful, supportive, and welcoming. And as a guy writing romance, I have to admit, I do feel slightly out of place at times. OK, I feel out of place a majority of the time.

The amount of help received in this group has been unimaginable. Not to mention making me feel welcome is excellent as well. I had been in three different romance writers groups. I am in just one now. Having access to useful, reliable information and being part of a supportive group helped me immensely this year.

Sorry, didn’t mean to turn it into a commercial. Seems like my mind wandered a little bit. Recap, I moved much farther ahead than I had planned. I had a shot at actually being published this year, but my own delay stopped that. Next year promises to be rather interesting.