I’m nearly finished writing the first draft of a new book. It’s not part of the Geneva Chase series which I’ve loved doing. This has a male protagonist (kind of nice not writing as a woman for a change), different location (I love Connecticut, but the cost of living is wicked high and it’s time to write a mystery using new scenery), and a different vibe.
My publisher hasn’t committed to the book, and I don’t know if they will. I hope they do.
As a matter of fact, there’s no guarantee that it will ever see the light of day. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve written a novel that was never published. As a matter of fact, before I found an agent (she’s the best) for Random Road, I had written four other books.
Before Random Road, was I feeling insecure? Hell yes.
I still am.
As I continue to steam ahead on the new book, there are some days where I think this is the best piece of fiction I’ve ever written. And then, later that same day, I wonder if it’s the worst piece of crap ever knocked out on a laptop.
Yeah, insecurity.
I asked my browser if any other writers have suffered from insecurity. This is what it said:
Yes, many famous writers have suffered from insecurity. For example, Ernest Hemingway was known for his insecurities and his tendency to compare himself to other writers. F. Scott Fitzgerald also struggled with insecurity throughout his life. Virginia Woolf was known to have suffered from depression and anxiety, which often made her feel insecure about her writing.
● "I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances." - John Steinbeck
● "I have spent a good many years since―too many, I think―being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent." - Stephen King
● "I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within." - Gustave Flaubert
● "I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering." - Robert Frost
I’m going to get back to writing. Luckily, at this point, unlike Frost, I know what the end looks like. When I started, the characters were foreign to me. The villain or villains unknown. The story yet to unfold.
Now the characters are like old friends. I hope you get to spend time with them as well.
www.thomaskiesauthor.com
5 comments:
Thanks for this, Tom
Well, thank goodness not all the writers you tried to get solace from were drunks (I was concerned for the first couple entries!). I don't know if I find comfort in other people's struggles. I do sympathize, and I am afflicted, but sharing a seat in the band on the Titanic, even if we are playing jazz, is small comfort. What do I do? I try to keep writing, or planning to write with a glass in one hand. There might be rum in it. There might be coconut rum in it. With fruit juice. But not a paper umbrella, I'm serious about all this.
Laura Hernandez
Loved this bit of encouragement. I especially understand the musician whose ear is true but whose fingers betray. I often think I should content myself with reading, as I know I’m excellent at that!
Loved this one, Thomas. This week I solicited blurbs for my forthcoming historical novel and I hated the thought of anyone reading it.
Charlotte...boy, do I understand that!
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