What to my surprise, three months later, a received a package at my home. Inside was the "Silver Quill Award" from the League of Utah Writers for the SAME NOVEL that this judge hated with all his soul.
The "Silver Quill Award" essentially means 2nd place. I was thrilled beyond belief! Now I had a confirmation of what I knew all along: not everyone will like my books, but many will love them. There's kind of a hidden life-lesson there: It's impossible to please everyone, but every individual will touch someone.
After receiving this award I was asked to write an article for the "Quill Newsletter," the newsletter for the League of Utah Writers. (No, I don't live in Utah.) In this article, I answer questions of I how got into writing, how Blemished Beauty changed from its original title, Acne Girl, my experience of publishing my first novel, and what I learned about the writing process, publishing process, and myself. You can read the article below.
From Wishful Writer to Published Author
I was shocked when I opened Ann Gordon's email telling me I had won the Silver Quill Award. For the next hour I did nothing but jump up and down. Finally, after years of wondering if anyone would see the same value that I saw in my novel, I received some validation.
JUST WRITE
Nine years ago I took an "amateur writing" class. It was based on the book, The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. The best thing I learned from this class was that I could "just write" (the same two significant words of the wonderful League of Utah Writers chapter I belong to). The concept of "just write" allowed myself the freedom to write something "not good"—at least when it first comes out. It's called a rough draft for a reason! No need to fret if I didn't have enough details or if the plot wasn't coming out clearly. All I had to do was get it out and get it on paper. I could go back and clean it up later. This concept gave me the courage to start writing all those stories floating in my head. How liberating! Nine years later, I still find it relaxing to write this way and the "emotion" that I feel often comes out better when I do this as well.
Since I am a stay-at-home mom it is hard to find (undistracted, focused) time to sit down and write. I rarely attempt it when my kids are home. I wrote most of Blemished Beauty in two different NaNoWrimo sessions, one for Camp NanoWriomo (where you can set your own word-count goal) and one in November. I didn't make a solid scene-by-scene outline before I started. In hindsight this might have been helpful since I had to do so much revamping and moving scenes around. However, I did have a rough outline of the overall story.
The Beginning to the End in a Nut Shell
From the time I started writing Blemished Beauty to the time I turned it over to an editor was a little over a year, but I would guess out of that time I only spent 4-5 months actually writing it and 2 -3 months actually editing it. I pitched it to a local editor who worked for a publisher based in Fort Collins. I wanted to try traditional publishing because my previous self-published book on Amazon was a huge flop as far as sales go. The editor took 3 or so months to read over it before she pitched it to her publisher. Within the week I was signing a contract with Crystal Publishing, LLC!
Now, traditional publishers provide an editor and a graphic design artist. Hooray! This process took roughly one and a half years. Honestly, I don't know if this is normal or not. Originally, I thought once I found a publisher most of my "author problems" were over, but they really had just begun! The long process of communicating, keeping the drafts straight as they got passed around, changed around, and back to me over and over was very frustrating and confusing. Having said that, how wonderful it was to have editors invest in my story and make insightful suggestions. Sometimes I would disagree, but more often than not, I would see their wisdom and make appropriate changes.
What's in a Name? Or a title?
During this year and a half I went through more than half a dozen title changes for my novel! My original title of the book was Acne Girl, since the main character's insecurity was her acne. I never imagined I would really keep this title, but it's how I referred to the story for a long time. My editor (and my husband) loved it, my publisher did not. When I discovered that 9 out of 10 people shrunk back in disgust or disfavor to Acne Girl, I decided the title had to go. Also, by the end of the editing process the condition of acne was entirely changed to a medical condition called rosacea. Moreover, the story is really about the girl inside, not the girl outside.
With all of these changes it took over two months for all of us involved to agree on a title. We went from Acne Girl to Tomboy to Checkmate to Stranded to several others. Finally, we settled on Blemished Beauty, despite my slight aversion to it sounding a little fluffy.
Once the title was set it was much easier to come up with a good idea for a cover design. Fortunately, the small crew at Crystal Publishing did most of the thinking on this one. I just had to approve it—which I didn’t when I saw a girl on the front in a rather revealing dress. This was not an accurate depiction of my shy, self-conscious character. But, with some magical alterations of our amazing graphic artist, the dress turned into a lovely evening gown with the girl looking into shattered glass. I love the cover now.
What I learned about the writing process
There are four important things I learned about my writing process.
1. Consistency
This is my life's goal for just about everything. Writing is no different. If I had set a consistent time to write every day, perhaps I would have completed another novel in the same year. Who knows? NaNoWrimo is perfect for forcing this consistency plan into my life. I recommend it to any writer.
2. Use my resources and try new ways of crafting a story
I love the "just write" way of crafting a story. I love discovering what the character will do as I am writing the scene. Now, I am going to try to implement the "outline" way as well. Mark Saltzman, a 7-time Emmy award winner and a friend of mine, suggested outlining my story according to plot lines. For example, if there are three plots, outline it in such a way where there are never two scenes together with the same plot line. I've noticed that a lot of writers and myself do this naturally (must be a writer's intuition). However, I am going to make it a more conscious decision now and see how it serves me.
3. Know when to take and not take advice
Being a part of writing groups is huge. My good and bad writing becomes much clearer when I share it with other writers. I've learned to consider all writing advice before tossing it aside. Also, I've learned to give myself permission to discard any "feedback" that is strictly insulting.
4. Return favors
Most importantly, I've learned to show gratitude for those who take time to read my writing and to return the favor in some way. When we all help each other, we are all better off!
What I learned about the publishing process
The most important lesson I learned about the publishing process is this: whether I am self-published or not, I will be (almost) solely responsible for promotion. This might be different with large publishing companies, but even they won't blog, set up an email list, a newsletter and do social media.
This means I can't wait for people to "get around" to finding my book. I need to consistently advocate for it. I can do this by making lasting and meaningful connections with readers and influencers alike.
What I learned about myself
1. Creating stories is a part of me and I need it in my life.
2. Some people don't care about what I write, but I can find those who do.
3. Just because someone doesn't like what I write doesn't mean it isn't good.
4. Whether my writing is good or bad, I can always get better.
5. Regardless of hard feedback, or how long it takes to see progress, I don't need to give up!
Silver Quill AwardI am so honored to have received this award. It reminds me of what I have known all along: My work is valuable, just as yours is.
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