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Just recently having celebrated a birthday, I get to say
that I am one year older. Although I am uncertain whether the second half of
that common phrase applies, in other words, I am unsure if I am also one year
wiser. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to think that I am wiser. I think that I
have learned a little more about the publishing process than I did last year as
I approach the release date of my second novel.
I remember I was watching a show a long time ago, it was
about Ian Fleming, the writer of the James Bond novels. On this show, Fleming
revealed that he worked on multiple projects at the same time. While writing
one Bond book he would also be editing the last one he wrote, and then planning
out the next one. At the time I thought I could do as he had done so easily but
now I see that I can add the phrase “it is easier said than done” to my repertoire.
I have also learned that you should not use clichés when
writing. I know this may seem obvious but after getting into the flow of
writing, you don’t want to stop the progess to think of a brand new catch
phrase that will enthrall the masses. What I do is write the clichés during the
moment of creation then during the editing process, replace them with something
better. I’ve learned that getting in a daily quota becomes tougher as you take
on more projects. It also becomes easier to take on new projects than to find
the drive to finish ones already started. A discipline is developed over time,
where habits are formed that become beneficial. Now that I have been writing “professionally”,
I find that if I go a couple of days without writing then start to miss the
process and my characters. Along this journey of writing a three part book
series you learn that it gets easier to repeat yourself than you think it is. You
learn your characters inside and out, if you didn’t know them all that well at
the beginning; throughout the process each character unfolds like a blooming
flower.
I’m not sure if learning new things makes you wiser but
hopefully as the years go by, I can figure it out as I go along, sort of the
same way I write my novels.
By Andre Alan
