Ignorance is Bliss
Not suggesting you all throw down your history books and park it in front of MTV (that’s what the kids are watching these days, right?) but I am saying that sometimes, the less you know the better off you are. (Did I really need to look up the percentage of women who died in childbirth while I was pregnant with my firstborn? Really??)
Now, saying you don’t need to know some things is a tricky statement to make, because, speaking specifically of writing, we need to be educated. We need to know the market, we need to know where our manuscripts fit and we need to know where to send them, how to write a query letter, how to write a synopsis and on and on it goes.
But, I will freely tell you, when I started writing I didn’t know very much. That’s been clear with the sheer volume of revisions I’ve received. *g* One of my CPs, a long time ago said ‘you don’t just sit down and write a book.’ and I thought…YOU DON’T?? That’s how much I knew. Plotting? Pansting? No idea what that meant. Internal? External? Whaaaaaaa??
Six month waits in slush? I had no clue. The amount of people who submit? No idea. That Presents was the best selling line of category romance in the world? I didn’t know. To be honest, I didn’t really understand how big M&B was around the world. I just knew I loved the books and that I could submit since you didn’t need an agent.
There were a lot of things I needed to learn, but mixed in there was just the right amount of ignorance. It made me try. I didn’t understand fully what the odds were (although I did expect to get rejected).
Maybe ignorance is the wrong word…maybe, if you know all of that *stuff* you need to be a risk taker. Forget about odds, and submit. Odds don’t really matter, not if you have the right MS at the right time.
So that’s my encouragement to you today. Don’t let your brain get in the way of your dream. Yes, we have to be smart, for all the reasons I listed above (no sense sending your zombie romance to M&B UK office…mmmkay?) but sometimes the tendency is to over think, to polish something until it really doesn’t need it and then keep doing it so you can avoid the submission day.
I’d encourage you to submit. Let that baby go. Try. Go for your dream. Borrow some of Young Ignorant Maisey’s blind enthusiasm if you must. 🙂 Otherwise, all you’ll have are what-ifs. Rejections aren’t half as bad as that at the end of the day.
Go for it!
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Oh, I can sooo relate to this, Maisey! As a newbie writer, there I was, happily writing, then someone says to me – “Oh, you write deep pov very well”. I’m like “noooo, now I can’t show my face in church again. What would my momma think????” Then came GMC, HEA, Deep Third (don’t get me started on that one!). In the end, I knew the only write the way I wanted to was to forget all the gimmicks and just…write.
Great post, chica!
I think knowing too much – the odds of selling, external and internal motivation, having a platform! theme and what the heck is a story question!? – can cripple you with indecision and paralyze your writing.
LOL, Maya…I’ve had a few how can I go to church? And what will mama say moments. (although…mama reads my Presents now. 🙂 )
Anne, yeah, there’s a fine line to walk. Knowing craft is essential, but you have to trust your instincts as well, and it’s when you get bogged down in what this book said about this and that book said about that and that author said never do this, and statistically I’ll have to be rejected 9.75 times before I get accepted…that it becomes darn near impossible to write!
You looked up the stats on women who die in childbirth! You crazy woman, you need to be stopped for your own good 😀
I can’t remember who said it now but I loved the thought that if you’re forever reading about writing and not actually doing it you’re not a writer :D.
I like to think that just by writing and submitting I up my chances (my little deluded world is a nice place… there are chocolate rivers here too 😉 )
Was this post written for me, Maisey? LOL.
It’s difficult to find that balance between knowledge and pure abandon, particularly for me when writing the first draft. What Anne said above resonates with me – my writing is paralyzed and it’s so terrifying. All the “shoulds” and should nots” circulating in my brain, and it’s so difficult to switch it off.
Lacey, I research too much. Google. Wikipedia…rabbit trails. FYI, I almost DID die in childbirth that first time…but I’m here and I had two more. 😉
Angie, I’m psychic. 😀 Actually, Jackie A and I have been talking about this a lot lately. It’s a balancing act of what you’ve learned through revisions and rejection and classes and your own instinct for the story. Your voice has to shine through. I think not having knowledge in a lot of things helped me with that. I had to learn how to write a book, but voice was natural because I really had just sat down and written a book. Story arc and characterization, ebb and flow, all of that needed work. Voice though, I had, and I think that’s what trusting my instincts did for me.
You aren’t alone. I think every MS it’s a bit of battle to find the balance. The happy medium, as Jackie said. 😀
Oh, also, Lacey, do the chocolate rivers have espresso waterfalls? If so, I’m moving to your world.
Of course they have espresso waterfalls! What do you take me for! 😉 Wow, so amazing that you were able to overcome your fear and have two more! I’m pretty sure that it would have been adoption or only child syndrome for my family!
I’m packing my bags and moving there now….
To be honest, as crazy as it sounds, I wasn’t afraid with the next two. I had a post partum hemorrhage and they knew what caused it and how to prevent it the next time, so I felt quite secure!
Yup, paralysed, that’s me. I was just saying how much nicer it would be if I lived in blissful ignorance thinking the publishing world was just waiting breathlessly for my masterpiece and which they would buy instantly. Instead it’s ‘too much conflict!’ ‘Not enough conflict’ ‘Too much sex’ ‘not enough sex’ ‘too much backstory’ ‘no enough-
Well, you get the idea. Happy medium? Ha! You let me know when you find it and send it on to me okay? 😉
Your post really resonated with me, Maisey. I think back to my early writing when I just did it with a sort of sad nostalgia. Now, with my new MH half written, I’m pulling my hair out thinking… is it good enough? Really not wanting to submit, but knowing at some stage (and sooner rather than later) I’ll have to submit. Then wait, NTAI, fret, panic, eat chocolate and NTAI again. Its exhausting.
I am so guilty of letting my head get in the way of a lot of things. I’ve recently had to just stop reading writing craft advice blogs – all the advice was really taking a toll on my writing style/voice, and I needed to just get out of that head space and *write* for awhile.
There is such a thing as over-thinking…thanks for the reminder to ease off on that. 🙂
Amen!
If I would have known everything that went into publishing a book…. well, I probably would have kept writing anyway, but I would have missed out on the enthusiasm of my early writing that has kept me going during those low times.
Absolutely wonderful blog!!!
Jackie, it’s easy to do that to yourself. As we’ve discussed (at length) it’s all about balance.
Jamie, and Sally, and Jackie, What we’ve learned is important, no doubt, and we need to take it on board. But I think maybe the big thing is banishing the fear of failure so that we can follow our instincts and tap into what feels natural, trusting that we really have LEARNED what we’ve been told and that we don’t have to question every word we write.
I ran into a bit of a wall with The Sheikh…five pages of revisions and I felt like I must not actually know anything. But, while I took my ed’s advice so very seriously, there was a point where I had to trust me. Ultimately, you’re writing the book, it needs to be in your voice, you can’t be afraid to be you and make choices without second guessing everything.
Lynne, I would have kept writing too. So far everything’s been fantastic for me, even with revisions. But I’m glad I had a bit of ignorance starting…I think youth and stupidity can really work for you sometimes. 🙂
So many truth in this blog, thanks ladies for sharing them. This week I was telling the girls at my group to write without thinking of writing rules, or the editor’s opinion, to forget even about the possible readers, simply write the story you feel like telling, like reading, like buying. Once the manuscript is complete, you can go back and apply all the rules that exist and even the one that is about to become the next requisite of the writing protocol. Writing rules freeze productivity and kill our muses, making us doubt our own talent every step of the way.
Speaking of truths I would like to share this link to a sassy little piece of literature, actually a fan-fiction dedicated to one of the most popular agents in the USA, it’s hilarious but straight to the point. The Querypolitan meets the Queryshark. http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/2010/06/janetreid-how-she-stopped-worrying-and.html
I LOVE THIS. SO TRUE! The more you “arm” your head with the more it reminds you of the sometimes daunting facts and figures.
I press on. Thank you for the encouragement!