Being A Writer

One thing that I've realized on this journey is that while writing is in many aspects a quite lonely job, it is in reality a collaborative process.

First, I write a story, and edit it to the best of my ability. Then I send it off to my critique partners, soliciting their feedback. Then I rewrite. Then, it's off to a publisher. And, if I'm lucky, the publisher loves it, sends me a contract and assigns an editor.

I firmly understand and believe that an editor's input is vital to the success of the finished product. S/he can see problems I've overlooked (plot holes, for example) or things that just don't work or stand in the way of the characters accomplishing their goals. While strong sales are important to both of us, each story must be written with integrity. It can't be a bunch of 'story of the hours' hooked together. Readers will know the difference.

The reader is the last piece of the collaboration. By writing genre fiction, I recognize that I am writing for a specific audience and not just to please myself. I have to balance my own interests in the story telling with what the reader expects.

My purpose in writing a story is to engage the reader. I want to write the best damned story I can, even if that means rewriting it several times until it's as near to perfect as I can get it.

I anticipate that my editors will ask me to make revisions that challenge me emotionally, and professionally. But that very process will make me get back into my stories and understand better what I'm trying to accomplish. I must not take anything I'm asked to do personally or as an attack on me as a storyteller. It's about making my story stronger.

As a writer, that's what it's all about. Having the strongest story possible.