Let's face it, writing is a tough gig. Especially when you are in the 99% of authors who rarely admit to themselves, let alone the general public, what their actual book sales are during any given month. It's very easy to see successful authors as an entirely different species - the ones who have "made it" and no longer associate with us mere mortals still hoping for that breakthrough novel. So it was a refreshing surprise to attend an author talk with the mega successful author Michael Connelly and listen to his experiences and to be reminded that whether you have sold 70 books or 70 million, as he has, that the writing experience is still the same.
I have long been a big fan of Michael, ever since reading his first Harry Bosch novel way back in the 1990s. So I was there in the double capacity of reader and fellow author. Although Connelly was a journalist, and thus an accomplished writer in that field, he admitted that writing fiction is a different experience. It was interesting to hear that Michael did not even submit his first two novels to any publisher, judging them not good enough and deciding instead to keep honing his craft and keep writing until he came up with something that he did deem good enough. It was great to be reminded too that Connelly did not have massive success until his fifth book, The Poet. Until then he was still working his day job as a journalist, while writing novels in any spare time he could grab. After The Poet he was able to become a full time novelist, writing a book a year as he still does now.
Michael spoke about his daily writing routine and how important it is to have a routine that works for you. He also reinforced an often quoted point, you have to write every day. Whether it is a word, a sentence, a paragraph or a page and beyond, you need to keep connected to your Work In Progress. This really hit home for me because I, like many others, find the longer you leave it between looking at your manuscript, the easier it is to lose touch with it. Days easily become weeks and sometimes even months. You cringe every time someone asks how your book is going, trying to remember the last time you even opened the file. In the week since, I have remembered Michael's advice and done pretty well, only missing one day. Guess what? He's right. Even if you only do the most minor of adjustments, if you add or remove an extra word, you have done something. And more often than not, it's much more than that. My word count has jumped significantly in just one week and I'm hoping I'll stay on this trajectory.
So, for all of us wannabe bestselling authors, the reality is if you love writing and you want to be successful, you have to keep writing. Like any other skill, even with a natural talent, you need to keep practising to improve. And remember, even the most successful writers in the world still have to sit in front of their computer screen with a blinking cursor and let the words flow. There are no shortcuts, nor should there be.
Michael spoke about his daily writing routine and how important it is to have a routine that works for you. He also reinforced an often quoted point, you have to write every day. Whether it is a word, a sentence, a paragraph or a page and beyond, you need to keep connected to your Work In Progress. This really hit home for me because I, like many others, find the longer you leave it between looking at your manuscript, the easier it is to lose touch with it. Days easily become weeks and sometimes even months. You cringe every time someone asks how your book is going, trying to remember the last time you even opened the file. In the week since, I have remembered Michael's advice and done pretty well, only missing one day. Guess what? He's right. Even if you only do the most minor of adjustments, if you add or remove an extra word, you have done something. And more often than not, it's much more than that. My word count has jumped significantly in just one week and I'm hoping I'll stay on this trajectory.
So, for all of us wannabe bestselling authors, the reality is if you love writing and you want to be successful, you have to keep writing. Like any other skill, even with a natural talent, you need to keep practising to improve. And remember, even the most successful writers in the world still have to sit in front of their computer screen with a blinking cursor and let the words flow. There are no shortcuts, nor should there be.
