Amorina Rose Writes: To write or not to write but then what about?

Those others and I want to be writers, or if not writers then dream of something and yet we let so much get in the way of that. Now the age process is now riding our tail (at least it feels like that for me) screaming that time is precious and running out. Knowing this is the perfect impetus to get a move on until we stop to talk it over and find there is so much to do, to know, to understand, to consider and that’s before we even write the novel I mean damn it, we just want to write. Writers make things hard for themselves.

The truth is that there is so much to think about that it seems easier to walk away but I can't seem to do that either especially since that UFOs (keep reading to learn meaning) are mounting up even as my fingers fly across the keyboard.

So as you can see if you are reading this I have made the decision to start with this blog because what matters is writing. I haven’t really decided what I will write about but that’s the fun. I will go with whatever comes up and what I hope is that you, along with my friend Alison, and now another called Kay who is a part of a merry trio that keeps us afloat in the words department, might consider contributing with your thoughts on something we have said, or better still bring up new ideas (doesn't have to be about writing), and in that way we will share the travel as friends who listen and learn from each other cause we have a lot to learn, trust me.

I will start off a discussion by talking about something I think many of us out there wanting to write have considered because publishers and rejection are kind of depleting to put it gently. Like a lot of you out there Alison, Kay and I have thought about self-publishing but the idea is quite daunting because it involves the use of the dreaded technology, a frightening but also exhilarating part of life these days.

We have the power to reach out to so many people with just the touch of a button; well at least I hope so although I may be getting ahead of myself. My dearest cousin Angie (she is a real writer, don’t ask me what I mean by that just yet) suggested we start with small steps but I am seriously thinking of moving her down the favourites list as this is actually harder than I thought. Do you feel the same way about technology and does it take your confidence away as it does mine? Isn’t it supposed to be a help not a hindrance?

There was an interesting discussion on the radio this morning that many people these days get to a certain age and decide to change careers, actually I did, quite a few times but that isn’t quite what I mean. This was more about embracing a totally new life and that takes courage. I have done a lot with my life but the truth is I have never done what I really wanted because I lacked the courage. I wanted, want to be a writer and have fooled around with this idea for so long, writing bits here and there, losing them, writing more and never doing anything with them. I was afraid; you always are when you really want something. Ironically I have done some weird and wonderful things instead that people might think needed courage but that’s the paradox ( I think we call it a paradox, hey get used to me making mistakes, I’m not only human but I’m old and that’s my story and don’t even try to reason with me), that we all view things so differently.

Well, here I am now taking that real risk, for me and finally putting pen to paper. Wait a

minute, its fingers to computer, silly me. The thing is, at this stage of my life I haven’t got

the time to waste so I am looking into self-publishing. Holy freaking, oops, maybe I had

better keep my language clean, at least until you get to know me better. (Sorry, but the

thought of me going anywhere near a computer to do anything other than emails, is

frightening. My brain wants to shut down straight away, what can I say?)

Honestly I would love nothing better than to find a publisher who adores me, tells me my work is so good I don’t need an editor and to sign on the dotted line for the many thousands of dollars my work deserves. But you know finally finding the courage to say the word writer doesn’t guarantee the quality of my work, and worse I am running out of time, not ideas but time so what to do?

Self-publishing rears its pretty little head again. OK! Why not? Well if you have read this far then you are probably identifying in some way. Is there something that gets in the way of something you want? I mean everybody has a something, don’t they? Please stay quiet unless the answer is yes because otherwise my shaky self-confidence will totally shatter. Now back to my original discussion about the dreaded self-publishing.

Self-publishing has a certain stigma attached to it. There is a belief that if something is self-published, the quality sucks. Well, I have been doing a lot of reading lately and there are some fantastic writers out there who self-publish. I have also discovered that it is complex to publish this way and that is part of the reason why the quality sucks.

Firstly, though let’s clear something up. Some works just aren’t that good no matter how they reach their audience but we know that, and that isn’t what I am afraid of. Well I am actually (writing is so subjective) but that’s for another time and blog discussion. It seems putting the text up there, so to speak, heightens editing errors, and typos multiply along with a few other things. Proof readers, edits and rewrites are always required and are part of the publishing process but self-publishing you are pretty much on your own and dealing with the apparent fact that uploading sends your carefully written words into outer space without the rocket ship, and as most people considering what I am now considering are a little shy about the whole writing a book thing and don’t ask for help we literally send the rocket ship up with just one little inexperienced astronaut. Need I say more?

I know we all have friends that are willing to help but it is a lot to ask. My first novel is 95,000 words and I have checked every single one of those words at least 95,000 times. I am exhausted and I wrote them. As I don’t want to scare my readers I am going to stop here and go do a little more research on the self-publishing processes. Actually quite selfishly I hope someone has seen this, read it and is even now preparing answers to whatever the questions are, or may be. Now see I don’t even really understand enough to understand what I don’t understand. I am hoping Alison starts up a whole new topic and contributes while I pull myself together.

Alla prossima as the Italians say. It means till we meet again but man it sounds so much better in Italian.

P.S. Who is Amorina Rose you may be asking, well you need to really ask me so join in any time.

P.P.S. Halleluiah, Alison is contributing. She just emailed me the following.

The time for procrastination is over. My name is Alison and I am a writer.

Now, what you can’t see, is me cringing as I boldly write those words. Yet, I am. A writer, that is. (Yeah, I’m cringing too). I am no different from all the others that put pen to paper and create worlds. And it is very intimidating to know that as many books there are published in the world, there are many more, hiding and waiting for an opportunity.

I used to tell myself that it was enough that I had written a full length novel. It was still enough when I had written two. Around the fourth novel, I added up the total of words I had written and discovered there were nearly 400 000 of them. Words, that is. What was I going to do with them all?

Still, I kept writing. Started new stories (I have so many stories with the first few chapters written, if I was to write them all, it would take me forever. Okay slight exaggerated, but you haven’t seen my pile of UFO’s. NB. For those not familiar with the term, it’s short for Unpublished Finished Objects.)

As Barb mentions in her blog age is catching up, inevitably so it would seem. Ah, the power to halt time. If I could bottle that, I wouldn’t have a problem at all! But, I can’t bottle that, and it is not easy to break into a market that is overflowing with people just like me.

Hence, the creation of this blog and my entry. It is a step I would not have had the, gumption, confidence or ability to attempt by myself but then Barb has enough for the two of us.

Barb and I first met at a writers’ workshop. We had both packed a lunch of dried fruit in small plastic bags, chuckled at the similarity, and shared our love of writing. The rest, it would be nice to say, is history…… We clicked. It is that simple and that complicated. And we both knew it was time to get our novels out there.

This is an adventure. An adventure, where we hope, you will become a potential reader of our hard work. We want to take you on a journey. For me, I want you, the reader, to fall in love with my characters and hate them in the same breath. I want you to feel their fears and their sorrows. I want you to love them yet be disgusted by them.