In Solitary

I am finally on Kindle! It’s a big deal in a way. I know that some old fusty and dusty literary agents would equate this to ‘Vanity Publishing’ (self-publishing) but I don’t really care. It is a disingenuous label for somebody who is simply trying to put themselves out there. The idea that new or indie writers can now publish themselves in cyberspace is a good one. Yes it means there are so many more writers out there and many are submitting less than novella length works in the hope they can make themselves more prolific. But you can quickly tell if an author is selling a product you like or not. It’s no different from going down to the market. Some tomatoes are ripe and others are green. Squeeze them.

This process of getting my own eBook together has taught me so much about editing and formatting that I almost feel self –sufficient. I can send out submissions by snail mail to agents and publishers knowing that if something good has just ended up in the ‘slush pile’ and overlooked I can look at it again, then shape it, rework it until I’m ready to ‘let go’ and finally put it out there. Obviously feedback is important and I look forward to the comments of those who have read ‘The Rugby Blanket’. Those comments and reviews will likely help me with a future direction. In the meantime its down to the ‘marketing’, yet another part of the process that I have control over and thank goodness for social networking. It’s another learning curve but like all the others it’s hugely beneficial.

Some writers need a ‘house on a hill’ to be inspired.

I now turn my attention to the not-so-exciting. It is this idea of the solitary life of the writer. I now understand that while those who have agents and copy editors and publishers they regularly liase with, the indie writer must rely on themselves, other indie writers and the internet (Thank you Tim Berners-Lee). It’s not a bad thing but sometimes a supportive voice can have a steadying influence. Interestingly I don’t find the initial writing process difficult at all and while some need a cabin in the woods somewhere, if I am in the zone my children could literally be tap dancing on the table while I produce a rough draft.

It is however those elements of writing that I am less familiar with, the editing and the formatting, where a little boredom sets in and the distraction is more likely. I know every writer is different. Some may like to write outside, some may need exotic locations, some may need to hear the sound of an old typewriter but I don’t. Although writing about a ‘Death on the Nile’ while adrift on a felucca boat with the sun setting over the Valley of the Kings would be an inspirational setting, I could probably conjure something similar up in my kitchen. I do a lot of my writing in the kitchen and for good reason. The Wi-Fi is terrible there and it stops me from constantly referring to the internet. What that does is give me momentum. Once I reach the drafting and editing process I withdraw into the man-cave (attic) where a thesaurus and broadband connection await. Although the latter processes are mind-numbing at times as I stated in ‘The Rewrite’ there is plenty of reward.

This idea of a writer needing solitude is true but for every writer that solitude is necessary at some stage in the process. It would be interesting to see what I could come up with in a house on a hill in ‘Far Far Away’ free of family obligations but I have more than enough stories I can share that are written right here at home…surprisingly none of them are about children tap dancing on tables.