Check-in: Another chapter and a half done on the rework of my first novel.
Now, here’s a great author article to read. I loved this Washington Post article about author Elizabeth Strout, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge. Strout, the article says, lives in a “modest apartment near the East River features a view to the north of 72nd Street and an air conditioner that starts spitting smoke the moment it’s turned on.” (Remember what I said about best-selling writers’ earnings yesterday?)
What’s wonderful about this article is that I can see so much of my writing experience in what Elizabeth says, like the epiphany she had while struggling with one story and finding the answer in another (bottom of the first page). That has happened to me, and I credit a lot of the changes I’m making in my first novel with the fact that I moved on to novel number two. That experience gave me the ability to look at my first novel in a different way.
The fun thing about reading about other writers is seeing yourself in them. Because no matter whether they’re best-selling authors or writers working to sell their first book, all writers share certain experiences, like those days when inspiration is nowhere to be found, feeling of insecurity and those epiphanies when everything comes together and you wonder whether you it came from you or something devine, because it’s so perfect. We all have these times, but it’s always good to be reminded that we’re not alone.
How’s your writing experience going?
Write On!
