This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Wow! We have been reading about Emily's writing life for eight weeks now! I'm thouroughly enjoying it – are you? Remember that you can check out emily's personal blog at https://writersguidetolife.blogspot.com/
RIP ‘If Not Now, Then When?’
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the past few weeks and I’ve decided that Novel 1 is going to be shelved once and for all.
I will not be subbing it again.
I will keep it but it’ll be for my eyes only.
When I wrote Novel 1, it was a form of therapy. I put a lot of ‘me’ into the story, into the characters too, and I think it’s maybe just a little bit too personal to get published. I was going through a particularly nasty time when I started writing it and I saw the novel as a form of revenge. Not good. Definitely not good. That’s not the right reason to write a novel. I wrote my feelings and thoughts as if they were the main character’s. I think it did me the world of good personally to get things written down, but its not necessarily going to make the novel publishable.
I was speaking to a friend the other day and we got talking about my Novels. It was she who made me realise that Novel 1 was just for my eyes… it was only ever meant for my eyes. It was my way of coping through a difficult time. I got caught up in the wonderful world of trying to get published when I got in contact with other writers, that I couldn’t see that Novel 1 wasn’t right. It was too personal, for crying out loud it’s like a blooming diary in some chapters.
I first started thinking Novel 1 was too personal for publication when I started seeing my boyfriend. He asked to read it and suddenly I felt so strange. I realised I didn’t want him to read it because it contained too much personal detail about an ex. It was at that exact moment that I realised I didn’t want anyone to read it. I told my boyfriend it contained too much detail of a previous relationship and since then my boyfriend hasn’t dared mention Novel 1 again.
And I don’t blame him.
So.
I’ve learnt to stop writing about personal stuff. I’ve done that. I’ve moved on. I don’t need to write novels as therapy anymore. Luckily, I’ve realised this in time for none of my other novels are personal like Novel 1. So I will work on the rest and forget about Novel 1.
I do feel sad that it’s come to this. But in other ways I feel free. Like I really have moved on. I’ve got a fresh start. And I’m going to make the most of it.
Yours,
Emily Tootsweet. :o)