It's All About Writing.

by Leigh Russell

It’s easy to lament the sad truth that real talent so often goes unrecognised by decision makers in the industry, but sometimes it’s wonderful to celebrate talent for its own sake. Recently invited to judge a short story competition I was blown away by the standard of writing submitted. There are so many talented writers around most of whom will never reach the dizzy heights of publication. (Believe me, it is a very dizzy experience – you can read about the rollercoaster ride of being published on many author blogs, my own included.)
Yes, it’s great to be published, but the real buzz is writing. Anyone passionate about writing knows that visceral excitement when you write words that perfectly convey your meaning. There’s a magic to it that no publishing deal could ever match. Yes, it’s fantastic to be paid for doing what you love doing, and to have the financial validation of experienced publishers. But writing is the real joy.
And writing is a great leveller; you never know where it might take you. As an established author with two bestsellers to my name, I’ve been invited to run a workshop at Get Writing hosted by the University of Hertfordshire, just eighteen months after my first book was published. A lot can happen in less than two years!
A conference like Get Writing is exciting because we will all be rubbing shoulders together - published authors, aspiring writers, serious students of writing – all writers and all passionate about writing. And this time next year, any one of us might have a bestseller on the shelves.
I’ll be sharing some of my tips about how I write my bestselling books at my workshop, because the lure of making money from writing can’t be ignored. But it’s really a red herring. As a character in Get Shorty says, “I once asked this literary agent what kind of writing paid the best. He said, ‘Ransom notes.’ ”
So my advice to aspiring writers? Don’t let the desire for a lucrative publishing deal override the joy you find in writing. If you do, you might as well be penning ransom notes – (something no one in their right mind would ever do, I hasten to add!)

Leigh Russell
http://www.noexit.co.uk/authorpages/leigh_russell.php
http://leighrussell.blogspot.com/

Annoying Things People Say To Writers....

by Matt Lynn

Tom's splendid post yesterday about film rights has prompted me to think some more about the slim volume I'm planning to write one day called 'Annoying Things People Say To Writers'. One of the hazards of this job is that people have no idea how it really works, but of course they think they do.

The result? If you mention that you are a writer at a dinner party, they make really irritating remarks. Such as....

1. 'All you need to do now is sell the film rights'.

What am I meant to say to that? Oh, yeah, thanks, I'd never thought of that. But I'll get it sorted on Monday morning. Thanks for the idea.

2. 'I've been meaning to write a book when I get the time'.

Listen, if I meet a dentist, I don't say, 'Oh, I've been meaning to do some root canal work, I just never get a minute.' Or if I meet an airline pilot, I wouldn't say, 'Oh, I'll take an A330 for a spin when I've got a day off.' I recognise that those jobs require years of dedicatd training and practise. And yet everyone seems to think they could knock off a novel, easy-peasy, if only they could find a spare minute. It is more than a little rude to suggest that what we do is so simple anyone could do it in a few dull weekends.

3. 'Can I have the name of your agent'.

Why do people imagine we want to give out the contact details of our agents to everyone we meet? They can look it up for themselves. I've just given up on this one, and I now hand out my agent's details automatically to everyone I meet. At my wife's parents house in Cardiff a little while ago, I met this 90-year old lady who used to live next door to my wife when she was small. Turns out she's been working on a historical romantic epic of several hundred pages. I humbly gave her my agent's details. I bet he was pleased to get that one.

4. 'I looked in Smith's and they didn't have your book. I just thought you'd like to speak to your publisher about that.'

Listen, an author is psychologically incapable of walking past a bookshop without going inside to check if they have his book, and, if so, how many copies. Even Dan Brown does it - I've seen him, moving the display bin a bit further to the front of Waterstone's. Trust me, if they haven't got my book in stock, I already know -- all you are doing is rubbing it in.

This one will be continued next time someone says something really irritating to me -- which won't be long I'm sure.

Dan Brown writer and man

by Leigh Russell

At the risk of sounding like a gnat patting an elephant comfortingly on the back, I feel rather sorry for Dan Brown.

I have to come clean. I’ve only read one of his novels. Of the man himself, I know nothing. But it would be impossible to be unaware of Dan Brown the phenomenon. I wonder if he aspired to success on such an unprecedented scale, when he first put pen to paper. (Fingers to keypad doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it? When he first tapped the keys, perhaps.)

There has been some wittering about the delayed publication of his latest book. I’ve read that he dragged his heels finishing it, anxious about critical reaction. I’ve no idea if that’s true. I can only extrapolate from my own experience (as a gnat speculating about the feelings of an elephant).

So far a few thousand people have bought my first book, which launched just over two months ago. My publisher has just reprinted Cut Short (I’m a successful gnat!) and Road Closed, the next book in the series, is with my publisher, en route to the editor. After the fun of writing Road Closed, I’m nervous about the response of my publisher, my editor, and – most of all – the reaction of my readers.

I’m talking about a few thousand readers. The number is growing from a very few thousand to a fair few thousand. All those people have bought my book. An admiring teenager asked me today, ‘Do people recognise you on the street?’ I was sorry to disappoint her, but . . . no, of course not. I’m not a celebrity. In bookshops people are beginning to recognise me. As more people see my video on youtube
a few more people may recognise me. A few thousand now, and perhaps a few more thousand by the end of the year. Perhaps not. It’s small scale and it’s fun. And, even on my small scale, a little nerve wracking.

The internet has had a huge effect on personal privacy. Millions of people know Dan Brown’s face, although they are strangers to him. That sounds uncomfortable to me. As for the idea of millions of people (did I see 40 milllion?) reading my book – I have a sneaking suspicion I’d find that a little unnerving. The thought that everyone I met would have an opinion about my writing would alter how other people perceived me, how I felt towards them, and towards myself. There’d be no getting away from it. I think it would change the way I wrote. I’d no longer be able to sit in cafes unnoticed, an invisible observer.

I’m a very ordinary person. I value my ordinary life. I love who I am. I love being an author. I’m not sure I’d enjoy being a phenomenon. And for Dan Brown, there’s no going back. I wish him luck – with more than a tad of envy for his success. I’d swap places with him on the bestseller list if I could, as a writer, but I’m not sure I’d change places with him as a person.