may 2016 scrivener better than writeitnow 5

One of the first guests we had in the podcast was Joe Abercrombie, and he gave the best advice. But if, like me, you’re compelled to write, then you kind of have to. You’d be forgiven for giving up.Īnd if that makes you happy, then maybe that’s the way to go. But as Mr D says on our podcast, you know, the one guaranteed way to fail is to give up and… It’s understand in the face of: you publish a book, 25 people buy it. Going for a walk, which I haven’t done for ages. Sometimes there are days you need a break.

I’m not getting the success that I, y’know… this soon. Number of times I could’ve said, nah, this is not for me. And the number of times I could have stopped. I mean, I started writing seriously just before my daughter was born. If you want the answer to how come that big pasty flabby git got so much of this, or that, or the other… it is perseverance. We talk about them more, which is a good thing. We’re all aware that there are big mental problems. Anyway, there was a point to all this… Well… Mental Health Awareness Day or whatever it is. I’ll do what I can do, but I’m not a doctor. Seek me out if you want to drop me a line. We do lift each other up and console each other… (distant train horn) When our trains are late, that kind of thing.

We all… There is a very positive attitude there. We’ve got the Bestseller Academy, a lovely bunch of people there. I mean, we’ve got the Bestseller Experiment. So find other writers, find another group. I know a lot of people… Writers who, y’know, their family, frankly, don’t understand what they do, why they do it. Find other writers because they understand you better than anyone else. I mean, if there is any big piece of advice for writers, I’d say find other writers. It’s heartbreaking to see that because we need to support each other. I saw a thing the other day on a writers’ group I’m on where a couple of writers sort of turned each other. I’m sure people look at me and say, how come that flabby pasty git got a film or a book deal or whatever… But this is it, y’know, we’re all in it together. And then… I get this all the time, which is you see other people doing well and you think, Why isn’t that me? What did they do to get that thing? Because you’ve got to write the next one and the one after that. It can be a bit of an anti climax, frankly. And it goes out there… (exhales)Īnd it can be… Not many people talk about this. And then there’s where you do get something published, either self published or hybrid traditionally. Certainly, if you’re starting out, it’s stressful because you might have a job and a family and all sorts of of things clamouring for your attention, making it difficult for you to write. If you achieve any kind of success, you get different kinds of stresses. And what’s helped me in the past because the thing is, it doesn’t really go away.

But I can talk about it from my own perspective. If you’re having serious problems then talk to a professional. And I honestly don’t really have any answers for you or anything like that. Hello folks, I’m recording this on World Mental Health Day, and this is something we talk a lot about on the Bestseller Experiment podcast, which is writers’ mental health, which is fragile at the best of times. The Book of the Green Planet on the Authorized Novelizations Podcast

Come and see two authors telling the unvarnished truth….

I’ll be at the Super Relaxed Fantasy Club – 9th August.

The Return of the Signed Book and Chocolate Giveaway.

May 2016 scrivener better than writeitnow 5