Welcome to Time to Write! I want this blog to be somewhere I talk about my writing process, how I fit being a writer around the demands of everyday life, and author life in general. So it seems only right to start with a post about what being an author has taught me about Being An Author.   

I have now been a professional author for seven years. In that time, I’ve published 27 novels, 3 novellas, and 13 short stories, under two different pen names. I have three more novels ready for publication in 2019 – and another two to finish pretty damn quick so that they can publish next year too!  

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about five. I have seriously intended to be an author since I was eleven. I have been writing with a view to getting published since I was sixteen. I completed my first ever novel when I was twenty two. I started sending manuscripts out to agents when I was twenty five. I got my first agent at twenty seven, my second at thirty – and sold my first book at thirty one.   

In the fifteen years between writing for publication and getting published there have been a lot of rejections. From magazines, from agents, from publishers and editors. In fact, there still are. That’s the first thing I know about publishing – the rejections don’t stop just because you got one acceptance.  

Here are 30 other things I’ve learned about Being An Author 

1. It’s the best job in the world.
2. There are some days when that’s harder to remember than others.
3. You spend a lot of time on your own…
4. But with the characters talking in your head, it’s never all that lonely.
5. Still, friendships with other authors – on line or in RL – make all the difference.
6. Pantser or plotter, what works for one book won’t always work for the next one.
7. Luckily, there are SO MANY different ways to write a story, there’s always a new method to try.
8. Don’t worry about running out of ideas, or saving an idea for best because…
9. The more ideas you use, the more ideas you get.
10. A writer is their own worst critic. But…
11. They’re also the only reader who really matters. If you don’t love your book, who will? 
12. Which is why it’s important to write what you love.
13. If what you love happens to be selling well, that’s great.
14. If it isn’t, just wait a while. Publishing trends change all the time.
15. A good editor nearly always know best – which is why finding the right one for your book is so important. 
16. It’s also important to wait twenty four hours after reading a revision letter from your editor to respond.
17. But if after those twenty four hours you’re still sure your editor or agent is wrong about something, it’s okay to ask to talk about it. It’s still your story, and your editor is there to work with you to make it the best it can be. 
18. Sometimes, you throw something in a book at the start with no idea why. Keep it…
19. Because sometimes, you’ll get to the end of the book and realise that random thing you included ties everything up perfectly.
20. (This is the muse at work, incidentally.)
21. Of course, if it turns out the muse took a wrong term, just rip it out in revisions.
22. At some point in every book, you’ll think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever written.
23. That’s okay, because when you’re deep in a book, you can’t see the big picture.
24. Besides, at some point in every book you’ll probably think it’s the best thing you’ve ever written, too.
25. Waiting for the muse doesn’t pay the mortgage…
26. But some days, if the words won’t come, it’s time refill the well – as long as it’s not every day!
27. Actually writing is only, maybe, thirty per cent of the job.
28. The rest is revising, editing, planning, proofreading… 
29. And then there’s promotion, admin, emails and taxes, and all the other stuff I’ve forgotten.
30. But the most important thing is, the writing always has to come first. Without it, none of the other stuff matters anyway.

Writers – what’s the most important thing you’ve learned about writing since you started?

Readers – what have you always wanted to know about an author’s life? I’ll try and answer any questions in a future post.