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- Life holds few pleasures more perfect than nice cup of tea + sit down + good book<\/em> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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- Cheap bin liners are an utterly false economy. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Five books into what I hope will be a long and happy writing career, I\u2019ve acquired a few author-specific insights, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m still learning all the time \u2013 but here are the most useful pointers I\u2019ve gleaned thus far\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Writing is hard<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The crafting of a novel is difficult. It\u2019s a feat of creativity, but also of strategic planning, discipline and determination. At some point during the drafting of every book, I experience a crisis of confidence so profound it leaves me crying into my keyboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The task seems harder still when you consider it in the context of real life, where many of us have day jobs, children or other dependents, and homes to run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as Miley Cyrus famously said, \u2018It\u2019s the climb\u2019 \u2013 and since when has anything worth doing been easy? I\u2019ll probably always have days when I\u2019m reduced to weeping at my desk. I\u2019ve just learned to see them as part of the process: signs that I\u2019m Doing The Work, and that it matters to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Writing is joyful<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Consider the rush of crafting a conversation between two people who sound and feel real, even though, five minutes ago, they only existed in your head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember the kick of satisfaction that comes with making yourself laugh, or sending a shiver down your own spine, as you type. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think of those moments when you\u2019ve hit upon precisely the right words to describe an emotion \u2013 a sentence that you know, in your bones, rings true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are your reward for the times when everything seems wrong, and you feel like giving up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are beautiful and you must savour them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. The book in your head will never exist in real life<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t ask me why \u2013 but something happens when you try to extract your lovely, shiny book idea from your brain and commit it to the page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe it\u2019s that character sketches and plot points are stress-tested when they\u2019re stretched over thousands of words. Perhaps it\u2019s a strange kind of alchemy: the base metal of your book turning into gold, even if it doesn\u2019t feel that way as you work on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, I\u2019ve found stories rarely take the shape you initially expected when you actually start writing them. I have come to accept this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Publishing is not a meritocracy\u2026 and luck does a lot of heavy lifting<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The most talented authors are not always the ones who get the best deals or sell the most books. The vagaries of the market are too mad to make sense of, and the entire business is subjective. One editor\u2019s trash is another\u2019s treasure \u2013 particularly if it seems likely to blow up on BookTok. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my experience, it\u2019s liberating to accept that some proportion of the success you find (or keep striving for) will always be down to luck: your book finding its way to the right people at the right time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sidebar: I cannot stress enough how pointless it is to resent someone else\u2019s achievements or feel bitter that yours don\u2019t match up. Comparison is the thief of joy, but it\u2019s also a total waste of time. Time you could be spending on honing your craft or pushing your own project forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Fashion fades, style is eternal<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
On a similar note, I think writing to fit in with a prevailing trend is risky \u2013 unless, of course, you\u2019ve been commissioned to do so by a publisher and paid a tasty advance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Yves Saint Laurent supposedly said: \u2018Fashion fades, style is eternal.\u2019 What\u2019s selling today might seem old hat by the time you\u2019ve got a full manuscript together – but a great story, beautifully written in your unique voice, will always have its place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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