I’ve noticed something in my time in the Bloggosphere: I’ll
be following a writer, they’ve just signed with their agent, they’ve just
released their first book into the world, and then crickets. They were all over
the place, and then, suddenly, dramatically, they’re gone. The blogging records
are really good right up until release day. When I was querying madly and
trying to figure myself and my own writing out, I always wondered why that was.
Why did they get to that spot and stop? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to
ramp it up?
And to be truthful, some writers get to that point and they
did ramp it up—with promotions for their book. They completely stopped writing
about all the things I’d gone to their blog for: writing tips and how to, and
the like.
I get it. You publish a book, and it’s time to sell the
book. I get that. I really do. But the thing I was always curious about were
the thoughts writers had after releasing a book.
And then I looked back at my own blog and saw EXACTLY the
same thing. *Sigh*
Turns out, I’m not all that special. Turns out, I’m just
like all the other writers. Turns out, I have many of the same insecurities and
fears as all the others. Turns out that when things got rough, I abandoned my
blog because as writers, we’re supposed to happy and supportive and exciting.
Turns out, it’s easier to go silent than it is to process the feels while you’re
in a place that many other writers are envious of.
With writing, there are some things you’re allowed to shout
from the rooftops, and there are things you’re supposed to hide (terms of contracts,
for instance). So I’m going to start a series of blog posts that I intend to go
from now through the start of NaNoWriMo (you are getting ready, right?) to
cover some of the things that don’t get talked about as much (largely because
they’re boring).
What they will be: A look at writing; what’s changed about
writing since publication; a look at some of the challenges after publishing
that don’t get talked about a lot; ways to cope; thoughts on strategy; learn
from my fail; and quite a bit of Just Keep Swimming (sorry, it’s the nature of
the beast).
What it won’t be: Woe is me, look at how my success ruined
my life (because it didn’t, but there are definitely feels, and those feels are
very real elephants come to trample you and your muse).
This’ll be a weekly engagement (should I say weakly, my
blogging hasn’t been that good lately), and I’ll intersperse some other posts
(reviews, costume related, fangirl moments—you do know Flash season 3 airs in
October, right?).
If there’s anything specific you’d like me to talk about,
send me an email, comment here, hit me up on Facebook, carrier pigeon—I’m easy
to contact, and I want this series to be a resource for people going through
the process. I know that parts of this topic exist in the blogosphere, but they
were often stories about “when I was a young writer” and not nearly that much about
the way publishing is now (and publishing changes faster than a model during
fashion week—but it’s all the same which is paradoxical and complicated).
