Okay, so last year I finished writing my first novel, over 332K words. That having been accomplished, the next question is, “What the heck do I do with it?” It’s all well and good to be a novelist, but if no one ever reads it, was it worth the effort? Was it worth spending hundreds of hours on the computer writing and researching just to lose it all the next time my hard drive crashes? Would it even matter if my novel vanished into the ether? Would it make a difference to anyone? Probably not, but how will I know unless I put it out there? And I guess that’s what this is all about. That’s why I’m writing this blog.
What does a blog have to do with getting published? Well, I figured that a blog, that is, putting the effort out in public, would sort of hold me accountable. It wouldn’t just be me anymore. Anyone who might stumble on this blog could share my experience and, in turn, the expectation that someone would care enough to keep up with my efforts to get published might keep me motivated to follow this through. Writing, under the best of circumstances, is a solitary pursuit. No matter what gives you the idea for a story, no matter who you talk to or discuss it with, the execution of the story is a lonely, personal process because whether you like it or not, the story is inevitably about you.
To help me through this process, I’ve started developing a flowchart of the publication process (Publishing Process Flowchart) . I know flowcharts are lame, but I’m kind of a visual guy and mapping the process helps me to understand where I am in the process. In future posts, we’ll walk through the process, talk about writing, and hopefully, in the end, get my novel reformatted and sold as an eBook.
© Copyright 2011 by Kevin Fraleigh.
Go you – I’m a coupla years further back in the process than you – set myself a deadline to get my first draft of my first novel completed by January next year, and similarly set up a blog to help the process (in my case admittedly the blog is completely mercenary and aimed at generating some sort of a community interested enough in my work that they may want to buy it, but hell, oddball literary novels aren’t going to sell any other way). Got to say it’s kind of fascinating that you had the will and dedication to write the novel and are now genuinely worried you might let it languish on your hard drive: I can’t imagine doing that. Though on reflection I’m more or less powered by attention-seeking, so I suppose that might be just-me thing. Oh well, one more unforeseen future hurdle to worry about when I come to it.
Keep up the good work (but, y’know, not too hard… it’s a limited market out there… [glowers threateningly at potential rival])