Knowing what you don't know and finding people who do
Since I've been pitching my debut novel Scrutiny I've learnt a lot about the publishing industry. And at the same time, not enough to get an agent and publishing deal. Crucially, I don't know specifically why my book – a suspenseful reading group yarn about a young British reporter fresh to the Arab Gulf seeking to expose a massive fraud perpetrated by a local tycoon – hasn't grabbed any agent's interest.
Is it the pitch, the writing, the setting, or slightly wavy genre? A question of timing, or is my novel simply not sellable? Does the market believe no one will want to read it? Maybe. I don't know. From the agents who’ve sent replies, I simply got a 'no thank you but it's all subjective.' Which I do know is industry standard, but not that informative.
While I dither and wonder what to do with that book, it is tempting to scan the plethora of services targeting eager debut authors – creative writing courses, cover letter workshops, agent webinars and one-to-ones, literary consultancies and conferences all designed to shine a light on the dark arts of publishing – searching for a fix to my dilemma: do more work and continue to pitch, or surrender?
In the past, I've paid for all of the resources listed above. They've been helpful. But, I've come to realise that the answer doesn't lie there. Since I started on Scrutiny, one thing that has kept me motivated, engaged in the process and moving forward with my writing, is talking to other writers.
Writers know about being a writer. We know about the joys and the slog. We have ideas, imagination, solutions, creative advice to share with each other, thoughts, learning. We know what it feels like to want to get our vision on to the page. We can offer encouragement, recommendations on resources, if needed, and a steer on how to approach the market. It's fun to talk to other writers, and it's comforting and inspiring. We get each other.
As a community, we have a bank of knowledge and experience waiting to be tapped. We don't always know what we know until someone else needs to know it and asks us. With this realisation, Cindy and I set up Real Writers Circle, a free, not-for-profit forum in which authors can swap writing expertise of any type, genre or form.
Since we launched in November last year, I have learned so many things, big and small about writing and the publishing world. Some nutshell snippets taken from our meetings include:
Crafting a pivotal moment is key to successful storytelling in any setting and sometimes those moments are very quiet.
You can teach a computer to write a story.
Even giants of literature have tough times. A century ago, just before TS Elliot published Wasteland to great acclaim, he was in a very dark place.
Punctuation, whether you are for or against, is fundamental.
While circle members are not sitting beside each other at our desks as we put words on the page, we do come alongside each other as we continue our individual writing journeys. Which is good news, as I've switched tack and am now editing the third draft of my enemies to lovers, small town romance set on the coast of Maine. Think Virgin River in Cabot Cove. The interim answer to my dilemma, I discovered, is to keep writing and talking to other writers.
If you would like to join Real Writers Circle, a monthly meeting in Brighton where we talk all things writing, click here.