Many thousands try their hand at writing the million-seller that is bouncing around in their heads; however, most give up on their dream before they get halfway through the first chapter.
Writing a polished manuscript is an enormous amount of work.
The odd thing about writing is that no one sits at the piano expecting to become a concert-ready pianist that afternoon, and no one decides to become an engineer by designing a hydroelectric dam. Yet many people believe that they can instantly become a best-selling author by sitting at a computer and banging out a best-selling novel.
The amazing thing is that some people do, but in reality, the chances are so low that you’d be better off trying to win the lottery. After all, a couple of hundred people win the lottery every year — and during that time one, maybe two, novice writers may crack the best-seller list. Generally speaking, before they are successful, writers have learned how to write.
There is a meticulous process to be followed when writing a manuscript.
Typically, the process is nothing more than a bunch of long-established rules to make the author’s work easy to read and follow. Creating the story idea, getting the idea onto paper in a rough layout, the rough draft itself, creating a hook, grammatical usage, creating and developing characters, building a plot; followed by endless hours of editing (rewriting) can be extremely discouraging for the novice author. Oh yes, let’s not forget writing query letters to publishers; then, the marketing process for self-published novels. Every one of the above elements is critical to turning out a polished manuscript to give an author a chance of having a publishing house read the work.
Ninety per cent of creative writing teachers and writing professionals will encourage a novice writer to find an accredited writers club. Most writing clubs have a core membership of professional writers who are experts in the field of writing manuscripts and the post-manuscript process to get the novel to market.
Such a unique group does exist in Rossland and they meet on the first and third Wednesday evening of the month at the Rossland Senior Centre. The core membership of the Rossland Writers’ Club is made up of long-established authors and writers who are highly educated in the field of writing, marketing and presenting their work. The Rossland Writers’ Club members will be submitting a series of articles to the Rossland News about writing; then, have follow up lectures and discussions in relation to each article. New members are always welcome.
For more information visit rossiewriters.com.
