Oh, Who Am I Kidding?

October 30, 2009 by Katherine Coble

I was 402 words into a post on the dreadful state of book publishing, inspired by an article in this week’s Entertainment Weekly that talked about how all the Books That Were Going To Save The Business This Autumn…haven’t. But as I kept typing I realised that I had nothing earth-shattering to say. Nothing to say that I hadn’t said a thousand times already. As long as literary fiction tries to remain above the perceived gutter to which Authors and Publishers mentally consign genre fiction…Authors and Publishers will go broke. People don’t buy books to read for fun that aren’t fun. And so much of what’s been put out there just isn’t fun. So I guess I don’t need to say more than that.

I’m still banging away at my own fiction, hoping to get brave enough to finish it. I think that there’s a huge part of me that thinks if I never finish it then I never have to try to sell it and thus never get rejected. Stupid, I know. Especially since I worked in a division of a publishers and know the routine. Most rejections of manuscripts aren’t personal. Still…

I have made one promise to myself, though. This November I am going to fully participate in National Novel Writing Month and I’m going to see it through. All the way to the end. My goal is to have a novel started and finished by the end of November. I’ve promised myself it doesn’t have to be like my “real” novels in that I don’t need to research it to death. The idea is to just bang it out quick and dirty. A microwaved meal instead of a Thanksgiving feast. Since my main problem with my work is the courage to finish, I’ve decided this may be a good thing.

I’m writing about my decision here because this is going to be the place where I keep myself accountable. If any of my dear friends who read this are also doing NaNoWriMo, drop a line and let me know! It’ll be fun. I hope.

Posted in Monkey Wash Donkey Rinse | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on October 30, 2009 at 10:33 am | Reply jasony

Finish it! Finish it! I’ve never published a book, but I have worked on extended projects that I’ve been afraid to let others see. There’s nothing like putting your work in front of an audience- it makes you a better artist by teaching you what you did right and wrong, and it’s really gratifying.

Keep it up, Kat, and don’t be afraid to put it out there.
on October 30, 2009 at 11:31 am | Reply nm

I will encourage you. But I urge you to keep in the back of your mind that some people find a lot of literary fiction fun, and we’re people, too.
on October 30, 2009 at 11:42 am | Reply Katherine Coble

I find much literary fiction fun. I really do. In fact, pretty much everything I read for about 6 weeks was “literary” as opposed to genre.

I paid money for those books, too. (In fact I highly recommend Cutting For Stone, Fingersmith and Tipping The Velvet, all among the best books I’ve ever read.)

It’s not ALL literary fiction I don’t like. In fact I don’t not like any category of books, instead preferring each book on its individual merits.

The problem is with those who don’t view all books as worthy and instead only prize “real” or “good” books, consigning others to either Trash or Guilty Pleasures or Airplane reading or whathaveyou. And therein lies the problem.
on October 30, 2009 at 1:17 pm | Reply nm

Well, that’s silly. Because everyone knows there are exactly three categories of books: books you have to take notes on, books you don’t have to take notes on but refuse to be interrupted while reading, and books it’s OK to interrupt.
on October 30, 2009 at 1:28 pm | Reply Andrea-Elena

OK, so NOW I have an excellent reason to come to a Hermitage write-in!!! To see YOU! =) (Are you OK to go gather in a public spot, or should we bring the write-in to you?)

NM, I like your categories. *thumb’s-up*
on November 2, 2009 at 7:09 am | Reply Katherine Coble

Are you OK to go gather in a public spot, or should we bring the write-in to you?)

I’m betting I could do a public spot, as long as I’ve got my trusty hand sanitizer. ;-p

Now if only I can get the NaNoWriMo site to work long enough to do the Region stuff. It’s overloaded.

If any other writers are as bad as I am, I’m betting it’ll be less overloaded in a couple weeks. ;-p
on November 2, 2009 at 11:10 am | Reply Andrea-Elena

Do you have your word count up to snuff yet?

I don’t. I didn’t have time to write yesterday. Well, OK, scratch that. I didn’t MAKE time to write yesterday. =(

So today’s requirement is 3, 334 words. Eeks! That’s a little over 13 pages. *sigh*
on November 2, 2009 at 11:33 am | Reply Katherine Coble

I forgot yesterday was the 1st until around 11:30 when I was falling asleep. ;-p

I mean, I know it was the first, but I wasn’t thinking about it being The First and what all that meant.

So, no. I’ve only got 1300 and some words so far. But at least for the first week or so I’m not sweating word count. I’m trying to just give myself permission to write for fun the way I used to when I was a kid and just made up stories to keep myself entertained.