30 things I've learnt from 5 years being published: no 6 – the writing is the best bit
September 6 2023 marks 5 years since my first novel was released 😲
I’ve now published 6, and have 2 more under contract.
To celebrate, I’m sharing a new post about what I’ve learnt from being published EVERY DAY throughout the month. This post is part of that series!
Click here for the rest →
Today is my actual five-year anniversary of the publication of The Rival!! 🎉 🎉
If you fancy reading the book that started it all, you can find it here →
Following on from my previous post about how writing ruins reading, I thought it might be time for a more positive realisation, before I put any readers here off writing for good. 😆
The happy news is that, no matter what’s happening on the publishing side of things, the writing is always the best bit about being a writer.
It’s also one of the hardest things. But I don’t think that’s bad. I think hard things are good, and necessary, and help us grow.
I think hard things that we are in control of create personal challenges that we can overcome with a bit of persistence, and that are ultimately incredibly rewarding.
Hard things we are not in control of (looking at you PUBLISHING) are another matter.
I always tell people that writing is my therapy. And although the publishing industry and its various Machiavellian mechanisms seems determined to destroy pretty much every author’s mental health, I still believe that my writing is the thing that keeps me (relatively) sane.
OK, maybe not sane, entirely. But here are a few things that it definitely does:
1) Keeps my brain engaged
There’s nothing I find more engrossing than my writing. And I love the feeling of being completely lost in it, so that hours have passed and I haven’t even looked up. This kind of focus is so rewarding, and I know it’s good for my brain too.
Often, puzzling out a plot problem is incredibly tricky but the breakthroughs that eventually come are all the more rewarding for it. There’s no high quite like it!
I’ve had many jobs in the past that didn’t require me to use my brain and while, occasionally, these can be quite nice and relaxing, there’s still that overwhelming sense of waste that comes at the end of the day, of the feeling that I haven’t used my full potential.
Maybe that’s just me, and my toxic productivity. But I do know for a fact that spending the day working on something that’s difficult but that you don’t care about is just horrible and stressful.
But spending time on something that’s difficult but that you also really enjoy is time well spent.
2) Distracts me from everyday life / problems
In a similar vein, getting lost in my book allows me to stop worrying about Other Stuff. I’m a worrier, see. It’s in my family. My grandmother’s ‘nerves’ were legendary, and both my mother and sister are very good at worrying about Stuff that hasn’t happened yet, and probably won’t ever happen.
I’m just the same, but when I’m writing my brain goes into some kind of zen zone where all those worries fade away, and my focus is entirely on the task at hand.
3) Allows me to get out all my weirdness and anxiety
And following neatly on from the previous point, writing allows me to funnel all that anxiety and weirdness into my characters and their story.
It allows me a ‘safe space’ to examine and explore my biggest fears, and in doing so, somehow, they become less threatening.
4) Gives me a valid reason to spend hours exploring things I’m deeply interested in
I love research! If I find a topic interesting, I’ll spend hours and hours lost in it, reading everything I can find on the subject and watching endless YouTube videos about it.
I really enjoy learning about something new in the process of writing my novels, and I hope to also ‘educate’ (maybe ‘enlighten’ is a less pompous word?) my readers in a small way about certain things during the story.
5) Provides the ultimate sense of achievement and satisfaction
You’ve probably heard that quote: ‘I don’t enjoy writing, I enjoy having written’ and it’s SO true. There’s nothing better than finishing a draft of a novel, knowing that you have created something from literally just your imagination.
It’s the most rewarding of endeavours, and is similar to how I imagine people who run marathons feel at the finish line (I wouldn’t know of course, because I am allergic to exercise).
Also, you know, loads of people say they want to write a novel and never manage it, so finishing one does tend to make you feel really smug and superior. Which is totally FINE so long as no one else notices 😆
The good news is that you can get ALL of the above benefits without a book deal. And you probably have your own reasons for writing, and your own personal satisfactions from it.
I really do believe that artistic expression and creativity are the greatest therapeutic tools we have.
I also know that even if I never got published again, I’d keep writing, just for myself.
Funnily enough, I sometimes wonder if I’d be happier just writing for me, without the expectations and weight of publishing around my neck. But for the time being I’m still grinding away, trying to make a living, and for the most part, enjoying it.
And when I’m not, I come back to this - the fact that the writing is the best bit - and I carry on anyway.
