Do You Validate?
By Alexa Grave
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You write your heart out, until your brain oozes from your ears. Revise, receive feedback, revise again, send to an editor, edit, format (maybe even create your own cover, if that’s your thing), and then publish. That’s if you’re indie, of course, but if you’re traditional, your manuscript sits in agent or editor piles waiting to be read… possibly for years.
Your novel is now out there in the world, but your initial euphoria quickly wears off. After joining newsletter swaps, gathering reviews, and paying for ads until your nose has bled due to the stress of money draining from your bank account, you’ve sold maybe a copy or two of your book. Crap.
You’re a good writer. Yes, you know you’re a good writer (let’s avoid the whole imposter syndrome phenomenon for now). And the novel you published is well written. Even though you followed all the necessary steps for a successful release, you missed one key ingredient. Luck. It’s completely out of your control, but with thousands of new books being published each day, to get the right eyeballs on your work of art, you need a good heap of luck.
Again, does all this sound familiar? For many writers, it should. We hear all the success stories because those are the loudest voices out there. The truth is, most of us struggle in silence, the validation we seek from readers as elusive as that luck we’re hunting.
So, what’s a writer to do when we refresh the sales reports hourly and fail to sell a single copy for months on end? Write another book, of course.
Oh, I made that sound too easy. It’s anything but easy, unfortunately.
Now you’re staring at the blank page, wondering if the effort is even worth it. Because no matter how much of an amazing masterpiece you write, it’s just going to sink into oblivion like your last one. So, what’s the point?
What many of us need to realize is that while validation from the outside is great, it’s ultimately not going to keep us going. If we solely rely on others to pat us on the back and give us a thumbs up, we won’t survive the disappointment that publishing inevitably brings (and even if you had one successful novel, that doesn’t mean the next one will do well).
Writers need to seek validation from inside to continue putting words on the page. Yes, that sounds way too zen to me as well. Maybe think about it as beating the snot out of your internal editor and locking her up. Oh, and make sure to chuck in her friends: doubt, fear, worthlessness, and any other negative personas floating around in your brain.
Again, easier said than done. But at the very least, you need to attempt to push aside the nagging, gloomy voices so you can hear a few of the positive ones. Like why you write in the first place.
For me, it’s a compulsion. I have an infinite list of stories I want to tell. And even if no one ends up reading and enjoying them, I’m going to write them anyway, damn it.
We all have a reason why we started writing, but to push forward and continue spinning our tales, even when sales are dismal and publishing might mean all our novels get chucked into the pit of doom, we need reasons to keep writing. And that motivation will only come from inside ourselves.
So, back to writing until your brain seeps out of your ears, revising, feedback, revising, editor, and editing. Hit that publish button, and don’t forget the marketing. Then do it all again and again.
Maybe after continually validating yourself, you’ll finally catch that elusive luck and gain the validation of readers that all of us writers seek. But if you don’t? Keep writing anyway.
I’m going to write and write and write and write and write until I die!
***
Though I miraculously manage to stay motivated with writing my own stories, more likely than not because I have characters screaming in my head to tell their tales, I’d also love a bit of external validation.
So, if you’re interested in picking up any of my titles, I’d be eternally grateful. For humorous fantasy, check out my collection Fairies – Fractured and Uncut (https://books2read.com/b/3R5rgL). And for dark epic fantasy, I recommend my novel Dead As Dreams (https://books2read.com/b/bPzJEA).
You can also subscribe to my author newsletter (https://alexagrave.com/newsletter/signup.html) for updates on my new releases (and a free novel, plus three free short stories). Whether I receive the validation of sales or not, it’s fun to announce my publications!
AUTHOR BIO
Alexa Grave loves to tell stories – it just so happens her characters occasionally take her on an unexpected ride. All of her fantasy, humor and romance included, embodies a bit of darkness.
Alexa’s life isn’t filled with writing alone. In her spare time, she enjoys gaming with her husband. Reading and thinking up large, impossible projects to work on also top her list of fun things to do.
Most importantly, she has two beautiful daughters who don’t give her much spare time to do any of the above.
If you’re interested in her ramblings, consider visiting her blog, Born to Write (https://blog.alexagrave.com/).
Angry Gable Press 