Simplifying the Recipe
This morning I started my second, more in-depth edit on 'Recipe For Nostalgia' (which will continue on the train this evening) and judging by the revisions on the first two pages, it may lose its mantle as my longest short story. It is, after all, nearly three years old and I've matured and evolved considerably as a writer in that time - my 'editing epiphany' earlier this year being especially significant. Which is the roundabout way of saying that I have already cut out huge chunks of exposition, unnecessary description and character thoughts.
Reading it over again has been both a mortifying and exhilarating experience - mortifying because I once sent it to Agog with real hopes that it would be published; exhilarating because the story's central idea still seems rather vital and fresh to me. If I can get the narrative into similar shape, I'm confident (hopefully with reason this time) that a mag called Futurismic will take it.
A bit of a surf around for info on Macmillan's New Writing imprint (specifically response times) led to the dispiriting realisation that I am a long way from my ultimate goal, which is to write full-time. Even authors with two or three novels under their belts still need to hold down 'day jobs' if they expect to pay off a mortgage. It's the first time that I've found fault with Stephen King's book On Writing, as he claims that if you work hard and become proficient in your craft, you will be well paid for it. Paid yes, but not well. Not well enough, at any rate.
I guess I always assumed that having a novel published with a big publisher was tantamount to landing a well-paid job, but that's not even close to the truth. From what I can gather, I would need to sell 20,000 copies of a book in a year to make roughly the same money that I do in my 'civilian' life at the moment. The 20,000 copy mark is inching towards bestseller territory (not Matthew Reilly or Stephen King territory, no, but it is roughly what John Grisham's latest book sold in Australia). I suppose it would be possible if the book received international release...
Well, here I am again - about six years ahead of myself. I doubt I'm the only writer who rides this emotional waterslide. One day it would be nice to stop at the top of the ladder and just enjoy the view for a while, though.
As I think I've mentioned before, if patience were a commodity, The Fearless Writer would always be out of stock.
Reading it over again has been both a mortifying and exhilarating experience - mortifying because I once sent it to Agog with real hopes that it would be published; exhilarating because the story's central idea still seems rather vital and fresh to me. If I can get the narrative into similar shape, I'm confident (hopefully with reason this time) that a mag called Futurismic will take it.
A bit of a surf around for info on Macmillan's New Writing imprint (specifically response times) led to the dispiriting realisation that I am a long way from my ultimate goal, which is to write full-time. Even authors with two or three novels under their belts still need to hold down 'day jobs' if they expect to pay off a mortgage. It's the first time that I've found fault with Stephen King's book On Writing, as he claims that if you work hard and become proficient in your craft, you will be well paid for it. Paid yes, but not well. Not well enough, at any rate.
I guess I always assumed that having a novel published with a big publisher was tantamount to landing a well-paid job, but that's not even close to the truth. From what I can gather, I would need to sell 20,000 copies of a book in a year to make roughly the same money that I do in my 'civilian' life at the moment. The 20,000 copy mark is inching towards bestseller territory (not Matthew Reilly or Stephen King territory, no, but it is roughly what John Grisham's latest book sold in Australia). I suppose it would be possible if the book received international release...
Well, here I am again - about six years ahead of myself. I doubt I'm the only writer who rides this emotional waterslide. One day it would be nice to stop at the top of the ladder and just enjoy the view for a while, though.
As I think I've mentioned before, if patience were a commodity, The Fearless Writer would always be out of stock.
posted by The Fearless Writer at 10:19 PM
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