As a writer, you may not have thought that you were living in a haunted house.
But if you take the idea figuratively rather than literally, you might change your mind.
Most of us, after all, are haunted by a few spirits floating around between our ears.
See if any of these rooms sound familiar. If they do, find out how you can escape, or at least board up the door so you don’t end up in there again.
The Writer’s Haunted House: The One-Star Review Room
You did everything you could to avoid this room. You put your story through multiple drafts. You worked with one or more qualified editors. You proofread your work.
At first, the reviews were great. Readers were enjoying your work. But then it happened: the dreaded one-star review.
Few writers get through an entire career without spending some time in this room. Some even see their first one-star review as proof that they’ve entered the big leagues.
“I’ve done it!” wrote author Jessica Redland. “After nearly 4.5 years as a published writer with ten books out there, it has finally happened. Today, I received my first ever 1-star review on Amazon for my latest novel The Secret to Happiness.”
It hurts, no matter who you are. But it’s up to you how much time you spend in this room. “In the writing community,” Redland continues, “the first 1-star review is often joked about as being the ‘rite of passage’ or it’s said that you’re ‘not a real author’ until you’ve received one.”
J.K. Rowling, Steven King, Dan Brown, and more have all gotten more than one. So lick your wounds and forget about it. It’s time to get back to your next story.
Get Out!
Remember that reviews are opinions, and not everyone is going to like your story. Be glad that your work is getting in front of readers, pat yourself on the back for getting through this rite of passage, step through the door and lock it behind you. They’ll be more one-star reviews in the future, but that doesn’t mean you have to be haunted by them. Consider them just another part of the writing life.
“Write for the readers who love your work,” writes author Jenny Bravo. “Don’t worry about anyone else.”
The Writer’s Haunted House 2. The Pile of Rejections Room
How many rejections have you accumulated in this room? No matter the number, it’s likely each one was a hit to your self-esteem. As they mounted up, you may have wondered if you were cut out for this writing thing.
“But no matter how many times you’ve been rejected, it still stings every time,” writes Nathaniel Tower. “The rejection letter always makes you wonder, why was my writing rejected?”
“[T]he funny thing about rejection is that you don’t quite understand how hard it is and how much it hurts until it slams you right in the face for the very first time,” writes Karolina Wilde. “If, as a writer, you don’t learn to recover from that slap effectively, you’ll quit before the good stuff starts happening in your life.”
It’s always wise to step back and re-evaluate. Check your story again. Have an editor look at it. Get some help with your query letter and your synopsis. Make sure you’re putting your very best out there.
After that, you’ve got to find a way out of this room. Otherwise it will continue to haunt you, chipping away at your confidence until you find that you’re making fewer submissions, if any at all.
Get Out!
Allow yourself to feel bad about the rejection for one day. Then file it away and get back to work.
Easier said than done sometimes, but it’s necessary. Wilde suggests thinking about how a rejection can be a good thing:
“If you believe that rejection is negative and it ruins your career, well, then it will do just that. But if you dare to step outside the negative circle surrounding rejection…and change the way you view it, it will be the first step to learning to handle it healthily.”
The Writer’s Haunted House: The I’m Not Good Enough Room
Rejections help build this room. So too do comments from well-meaning friends and family. (Are you sure this is what you want to do?) Struggles with your story, questions about your talent, and repeated efforts that fail all contribute to this common room in any writer’s mental haunted house.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a writer who felt 100% confident about their writing,” writes Ali Luke.
“Deep down…or maybe even right at the surface where everyone can see…you wish you were a writer. A real writer,” writes Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen.
I spent a lot of years in this room, and still visit now and then. I think it’s near unavoidable as you go through the ups and downs of the writing life. The important thing is not to let the door lock you in.
Get Out!
The best exit key from this room is education. Learn how to be a better writer.
This is always a good thing to do, and the more skills you develop, the more capable you will feel as a writer.
“As crafters, writers, creators, and solo-flyers, we take charge of our own development,” writes
Henneke Duistermaat. “If we’re unhappy with our current skills, we make it a priority to improve. So, join a course, hire a coach, or for a no-budget option: create your own swipe file to study the masters and learn how to develop your skills through deliberate practice.”
4. The Books that Didn’t Sell Room
How many books have you published that didn’t sell well?
Even if it’s just one, it’s enough to haunt you for years to come. It may hang around at the edge of your peripheral vision, particularly when you’re working on your next book, whispering in your ear, “What if this one doesn’t sell either?”
We’re supposed to write mostly because we care about our books. The experience is satisfying whether it sells well or not, right?
“In order to keep fear at bay,” writes Abigail Rasminsky, “you have to imagine that you are doing this for yourself alone—for the deep, creative satisfaction of committing to, and executing, a vision over the long haul…But in order to keep going—to put in the hours day after day for years—you have to believe, somewhere inside you, that it will eventually exist outside the confines of your mind and your computer. That it will, in other words, sell.”
What we often forget it just how stiff the competition is out there. Over one million books are self-published every year alone. That’s not counting the traditionally published ones. That means it’s extremely hard to sell a book—any book. Certainly one from a small, indie author.
Most successful authors have books in their portfolios that didn’t sell well. Some aren’t the first books either. Many authors experience great success with their first books and then spend the rest of their careers trying to match that success.
Get stuck in this room for too long and it’s likely to kill your writing career.
Get Out!
It’s tough to watch a book you slaved over languish on the market with little attention. But sometimes it happens. More often than you may think.
Let your heart be broken. It’s hard to avoid it anyway. Then give yourself a break. Restore the creative well. Get some time off in a beautiful place you love. Let your writing spirit be reborn. Then, when you’re ready to try again, put the market out of your mind. Just write.
“Don’t be a one hit wonder,” writes agent Steve Laube. “Keep writing. You never know what can happen. So many artists are ‘overnight sensations’ when they have actually been creating for years. It may be your sixth book that is the one that gains a huge readership.”
Do you have your own writer’s haunted house?