…or are you thinking about the next ten years?
I ran across this question while reading comments made by Elizabeth Weed of Weed Literary LLC http://weedliterary.com/ regarding the role of a literary agent in shaping an author’s career:
This is an excellent question, and one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.
…you know, when I’m not raising kids, working full time, working on my Masters’ thesis, or finishing up my 180,000 +/- word count beast of a doorstopper manuscript.
So, do I want to sell my book, or am I thinking about the next ten years?
I don’t want to just sell one book; I don’t even just want to sell one series of books. I am definitely looking forward to a long term career as a professional liar writer.
To that end, I am constantly looking to improve my writing and storytelling skills, looking for ways to make my story deeper, better, more resonant. I study books I love and books I hate. I study movies, and music, and the works of visual artists. Always searching for that bit of brilliance I might take home and use to make my own bower that much brighter.
I’m finishing up my first book and already have a rough outline for the second; I move back and forth between them, tightening and improving story lines, and searching for new ways I might make my readers cringe, or cheer, or cry. I want Pat Rothfuss to curse my name because I made him stay up till three in the morning reading my book. I want Neil Gaiman to read one of my stories and say, “Damn, I wish I’d written that.”
It’s very hard work. But I don’t just want to be a writer…I want to write.
Jai tu wai,
Debi
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