Writing is my passion?
For me, writing is both a passion and an obsession. It started as a hobby, about twenty years ago. That’s when I wrote my first memoir about giving up work to pursue life as an artist in Bali. I flooded the pages with words, but I did not understand structure, showing rather than telling, and all the skills needed to write as good book. The manuscript I produced was lousy. Friends who read it, implied this, but did not come out with it directly. That manuscript still sits in a bottom draw.
So what did I do?
I had a choice – I could give up writing, or I could gain the skills to be a good writer. I’m not a quitter and and decided to gain skills so I could produce decent writing. To improve my skills:
- I formed the Ubud Writers Group. We’d meet every week, share our writing, offer constructive criticism and help each other learn new tricks of the trade.
- I took writing courses from the Australian Writers Centre. Here’s a link to the huge range of courses they offer.
- I wrote for part of everyday.
My passion grew, but my writing talent lagged behind.
I threw myself into writing and the result was a couple of self-published books of short stories and a memoir written through the eyes of Rina, our miniature poodle. I paid editors to edit these manuscripts, but they were friends and I suspect, not tough enough. The books weren’t bad, but they also weren’t great.
You need to read if you want to be a writer.
I’d always been a reader, but it was important to read the genre I was attempting to write. As I was mainly writing memoir, I devoured these type of book. I also read books on the craft of writing.
Improvement was slow and sales were slower.
Daily I wrote and edited. I produced or drafted eight books – Nothing is Forever, The Maiden Aunts, Three Mums – Six Years, Under Drought Skies, Flying Free on Rainbow Wings, Good Grief – A Very Personal Memoir, Paris Told Me and Two Poof and a Poodle. And while doing this:
- I did more online courses.
- Bought a subscription to ProWritingAid and used it for editing drafts. This program is wonderful.
- Attended Writers Festivals.
- Participated in writing retreats.
- Studied marketing strategies.
- Improved my social media presence and built a following.
- Queried agents and got rejection letters.
- I also submitted manuscripts and short stories to competitions.
It’s starting to pay off.
I entered The Maiden Aunts, under the new title Love is Love in the Cheshire Novel Prize agent showcase and from the 1980 entries they received, I was listed in the top ten. My manuscript now gets recommended to agents and hopefully, I’ll receive an offer.
I submitted a short story, ‘Stubborn Me’ to the Sydney Hammond Memorial Short Story Competition and got longlisted. My short story appears in the anthology, The Look That Said it All.
I’m improving as a writer but still have a long way to go.
To continue to improve I’ve invested further in my writing journey. I employ a tough editor to review all my work. She is demanding and never holds back in critiquing my writing.
To understand what the traditional publishing industry requires, I’ve used the manuscript assessment service available from Hawkeye Press. I highly recommend them.
What’s next?
I continue to write for part of everyday.
I continue to increase my skills by watching and studying writing blogs.
I am querying agents and publishers trying to get an acceptance letter for either The Maiden Aunts or Flying Free on Rainbow Wings.
From the 11th to the 16th December I’m going on an Australian Literary Festival at Sea cruise. This is the ultimate in combining work and leisure. I hope to network and meet like minded writers. My next blog will be about this adventure.
For me writing has moved from being a hobby to a passion and probably an obsession. I could have chosen cheaper obsessions, but I didn’t. I love writing memoirs and fiction.