I’m not really the type to get super-emotional about things.
I will say that the year and a half we were fostering our 2 1/2 year old (now our adopted daughter 🙂 ) was an extremely difficult time to balance writing and family issues.
I’d also say there’s a level of disappointment I’ve grown accustomed to after about eleven years in the writing world, so I tend to expect the worst: low reviews, multiple rejections, and letdowns of all kinds.
You Have to Believe in What You’re Writing
The bottom line is that no one is going to believe in your book more than you do—no agent, no editor, no readers.
You have to believe in what you’re writing and be willing to finish those books and promote them, no holds barred. Then you let the chips fall where they may.
I’ve definitely thought about quitting at times, especially after I get a string of low reviews, or when publishers don’t bite on a series I feel I need to get out there.
I wish I could be one of those devil-may-care authors who don’t read reviews, but I’m just too curious. I have stopped reading the low ones in depth, though.
How to Deal with Poor Reviews
As far as low reviews, I remind myself that the people giving low reviews
a) aren’t going to buy my next books, so therefore,
b) they aren’t my true readers anyway. They don’t get what I’m doing.
And when I’m really REALLY discouraged, I read my hubby the horrid reviews and get his intellectual take on how inane they are.
Another option is to read low reviews of some of the most famous authors, like Agatha Christie, and I don’t feel so bad. Every well-known author gets low reviews.
As for publishers who don’t want what I’m writing, I’ve already gotten around that in the past with indie (independently) publishing, such as when I indie published by Viking historical series when Christian publishers weren’t interested in historicals set outside the USA.
I knew people were interested in Vikings, so I got the first book out there. I haven’t regretted that decision at all.
Taking a Summer Break from Writing Helped Me Feel Tons Better
The biggest physical challenge of writing comes from the long hours I log at the computer, some days as many as six or more hours straight. I don’t take enough breaks when I’m writing, I’m sure.
Also, I think it’s important to get out in the sunshine each day, and some days I’m hardly outside at all. Finally, I do get migraines, so long hours at the computer don’t help that!
This summer, I’ve taken a break from writing, so I’ve been doing a Tony Horton exercise program with my husband, as well as upping my water intake and doing a low-carb diet. I feel tons better after just a month and a half doing this. I hope I can keep these things up once my kiddos are in school/college and I’m back to writing during the days.
My Biggest Key to Getting Story Ideas
Ideally, I come up with ideas while walking on the treadmill or while having long stretches of time to brainstorm. However, time alone rarely happens (hasn’t happened at all this summer, thus my extended writing break!).
Ideas will sometimes hit me when I’m driving across the mountain (I live in West Virginia, so I have to drive across mountains to get anywhere). But I guess the BIGGEST key is to sit down and start writing. Then the story flows.
My Biggest Discouragement with Writing
I was disappointed that a movie deal option that had been discussed never came through for my first Viking book, but that’s not the kind of discouragement that would break me.
I guess the biggest discouragement is when I’ve put so many hours/months into writing books, but then I make very little income from them.
It’s especially discouraging this year, when we’ll have three kids in college in the fall! I’m hoping my latest cozy mystery series will take off and that will add more to the family income.
If I’m contributing nothing, I feel writing is just an expensive hobby and I might as well go into the regular workforce. However, my heart is in writing. So it’s kind of a Catch-22.
It’s So Encouraging to Know Your Books are Touching People
My greatest triumph: having readers who love my books.
I have to remind myself that the reviews I see on Amazon don’t represent all the people who’ve read my books. Sometimes I forget that fact, and I’ll be out and about and I’ll run into someone I had no idea enjoyed my books.
THAT is encouraging, to know you’ve reached beyond your circle of friends/family and your books are touching people—even worldwide!
I guess I come back to that conviction that writing is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life (outside being a mom, which is the number one priority).
From the time I completed my first book (for a National Novel Writing Month challenge, where you write a 50,000 word book in a month), I knew I COULD write an entire book. It’s kind of like an addiction after that, because you start thinking of all the things you want to write.
I guess at this stage, it’s kind of who I am. But I’d give it up if I knew that was what I was supposed to do.
Advice for a Young Writer: Fight for the Books You Believe In
I actually have two daughters who love to write. I encourage them to read widely, and I don’t have to remind them to use their imaginations, because they do that naturally.
But I always encourage people to get that first draft finished, THEN go in and tweak and edit. Otherwise, you could be working on the same thing for years, and you really slow your writing momentum if you stop all the time to edit. As you get more books finished, and you experience a professional edit job, it becomes much easier to self-edit as you go.
I’d also encourage them with what I said above—you shouldn’t expect anyone else to be a bigger champion of your books than you are. If you have a book you believe in, fight for it—fight to get the best edits for it, fight to get the right cover art, fight to make that book as marketable as you can. Then get it out there and back it wholeheartedly.
Finally, don’t wait around to hear back from agents/editors. Once your first book is finished, write the next one. Don’t slow down until you have to. You’ll be much less disappointed at rejections if you have other projects in the works.
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Heather Day Gilbert, an ECPA Christy award finalist and Grace award winner, writes contemporary mysteries and Viking historicals. Her novels feature small towns, family relationships, and women who aren’t afraid to protect those they love. Her most recent release was Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass, the first in the Exotic Pet-Sitter cozy mystery series with Kensington Books.
For more information on Heather and her work, see her website and Facebook author page, or connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass: When exotic pet-sitter Belinda Blake moves into a carriage house in tony Greenwich, Connecticut, she’s hoping to find some new clients. Instead she discovers a corpse in the garden—and a knack for solving murders . . .
Pet-sitter Belinda Blake doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful, to say the least. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom—just as she met Stone Carrington V, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge—attached to a woman’s dead body.
The victim, Margo Fenton, was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But though she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life . . .
Available at Kensington Publishing, Kobo, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.