Writing Novels as a Career

My husband, Stefan Bourque, had two books published before I met him. When I heard that, I was completely in awe of his accomplishments. Since the completion of his latest manuscript, I am even more in awe than I was before. Writing has got to be one of the most torturous career choices out there. Here is why.

First of all, if you are writing a novel, you are nobody unless you have a published book. Even then, you are nobody. If you tell a new acquaintance you have a book out and they've never heard of it, you can palpably feel them forming an opinion as to why they haven't heard of you or your book before. And that reason is: you must not be very good. This is a real shame. The bookstores are filled with miles of books by unknown authors. Some are brilliant; some are not. Some should definitely be on the best-seller list, but never will be. It all comes down to the contract the author inked with the publisher. If the author agreed to have the book published but the publisher has not budgeted millions of dollars to advertise it, then the book will never even see the front of the bookstore. It has nothing to do with how great the book is. It all has to do with how much the publisher is willing to spend advertising the book. And if the choice is to take the deal offered or not be published at all, it's easy to see why an author would agree to a less than savory contract.

An author would agree to a less than savory contract for various reasons, one being just being plain old tired of getting rejection letters. It takes every ounce of your blood, sweat and tears to bring a manuscript to completion. It can take years of planning, writing, editing and re-writing before an agent even shows a glimmer of interest. When you have spent the last five or more years writing your novel, spent even more time polishing it and sending it out to agents, a person tends to get a little desperate. I don't know of anyone who can go for years and years working on the same project, never getting a pat on the back, never knowing for sure if their time was worth the effort. Most people get frustrated and give up if there is no immediate payoff for their work. Imagine working for a couple of years without your boss ever saying, "Good job! You're doing great!" You get disillusioned if you do not get positive affirmation that you are going in the right direction. The same goes for an author. A letter of acceptance can be that much needed proverbial pat on the back, but the contract may not be a good offer.

You must have a really thick skin to be an author. Despite the massive enthusiasm you hold for your book, others will not react with what you believe to be an appropriate level of enthusiasm. Most people you know won't even ever read your book, even though their reviews could really help push up the interest level in your work. If they do get around to reading your book, most won't bother to tell you. If they do, they usually will say, "Hey, I read your book. Did you know that on page 262 there is a typo?" and they'll go into explicit detail about the typo, why it was wrong, and fail to mention how great they thought the plot was, or how wrapped up they got in your main character. Never mind that every book contains typos. Perfection in a several hundred page document is impossible. So if you're hoping that if you sign a less than savory contract that results in just enough copies published to hand out to your friends and family and you're relying on them to give you a hearty congratulations, don't count on it. Instead, expect to be scrutinized on such a granular level that leaves your insides shriveled and you wondering why you feel compelled to torture yourself.

Be prepared to slave away for a couple of years on one book, only to have your readers read it in a few hours. Of course, on one side, writing such a page-turner is a huge compliment. But it seems a little lopsided that something that took you years to create is read and enjoyed within the span of a few hours and then likely set aside on a shelf and never read again. This is a mind-boggling revelation.

Writing is lonely work. This statement often conjures up images of a poor writer locked in a sterile room all by himself for hours on end. What this statement really means is that no one can write your book for you or with you. When you are discouraged, you must rely on the support of others to buoy you through. Nobody can help you with a difficult passage or say for certain that your plot is compelling enough to gain the attention of an agent. The very best you can hope for is for someone to ask you on a daily basis if you have written anything today. And even in the best of circumstances, that question can sound like nagging when the writing isn't going so well. Most writers don't have the luxury of a cheerleading squad or even the promise of a deal to encourage them when they sit down to write.

No matter how much editing you do, there will always be a sentence that makes you cringe. Or a paragraph. Or a chapter. Sometimes the entire book makes you cringe. When you start writing, it was a beautiful thing, but now you feel it has morphed into something ugly and unloveable. This is a job hazard that has choked many writers from finishing their work of art or risk submitting it. How many brilliant manuscripts are languishing in a dusty box at the back of a closet because the writer deemed it unworthy of ever seeing the light? Self-cricism is a huge part of the creative process, but you must not let it stop you.

Writing in its very nature is a painful, arduous process. It is fraught will fears that can paralyze you. What if your book is no good? What if the characters wilt through their movements and are not believable? Is the plot believable? Is it compelling and exciting? What if you get halfway through the book and it's been a struggle the whole way - what if you start hating the book? All these thoughts can quickly bring you down into a tar pit of despair and self-doubt. When you write, you expose all the layers that make up who you are. When you are rejected, it feels like the universe is rejecting you on a personal level, confirming your belief that you don't have what it takes to cut it. If you are able to push through all of this and make it out on the other side more or less intact, then I applaud you.