Creative conundrum.
Process
I love working with The Book Edit. I already feel like I’ve had a crash course in English at a Masters level, by going through this editorial process. Having only studied English up to my GCSEs, it’s a helluva of a bridge I need to cross to even be a halfway decent storyteller, but already in two months, I’ve learned so much. Penny deconstructed my writing, giving me invaluable advice on how to;
tell a story with pace, tension and emotion
fully flesh out and bring to life the characters ‘Kavita’ and ‘Raj’, in a way that the readers will want to learn more
think about how the reader will meet and see these characters so that they are fully immersed in them, their complexities and what drives their behaviours
What I wasn’t expecting as part of my editorial package, was to have a face-to-face zoom call with BOTH Emily and Penny for one hour, to discuss 10 questions I had from the feedback, so I could move forward with my redraft. Penny knows more about me and my story, than anyone else in my world, even my besties. I’ve never been as open and honest as I have on those pages, so there was already an intimacy and immediacy to our meeting face-to-face. It was really wonderful to put a face to the person, who had taken such great care over my manuscript. Emily is just lovely of course, so it felt like we were equals around the virtual table.
We collaboratively went through my questions and a few others, discussing any sticky points. I also mentioned the rookie mistake I had made, not thinking about the readers experience when I wrote the first draft, but only seeing it from the eyes of an author. Penny reassured me that this is completely normal, that the first draft is always written from this perspective and that the second draft, is when the reader comes into focus. I left the call with their words of encouragement ringing in my ears, feeling even more focused, excited and inspired. I’m so grateful to be working with The Book Edit on this part of my journey.
Synopsis
At the time of writing my last blog, I’ve spent huge amounts of time trying to get it down to the bare bones of my story, so that when an agent reads it, they will immediately understand the story I’m trying to tell, the ‘need to know’ parts. I touched on this briefly in my last post ‘Small Steps Still Progress’ so will go into a bit more detail here. A synopsis is broken down into;
Descriptions of who the main characters are, relevant only to the story you are telling. Think about what your marketing niche is for your book and write to that.
In a few sentences, show what the narrative arc of the story is, carefully chosing and selecting the order of events that will show how the main characters relationship changes (the plot arc) and why it changes (the character arc)
Then expand the narrative arc over 5 paragraphs i.e the 5 global commandments;
Key incident : The event that happens to the main character, which knocks their life off-balance
Key turning point : The event which happens to the main character, bringing them to a standstill, forcing them to a crisis decision
Crisis point : This is when the main character is forced to make a tough decision, consciously or unconsciously, as a result of the turning point
Climax : What action does the main character take, because of the crisis point?
Resolution : What is the outcome of the climax? How does life change for the main character, other characters and the world around them? This is where the story ends.
I’m still seriously struggling with the word count and don’t think removing one word here or there, is going to cut it now. I’m unfortunately, going to have to cut out chunks from each paragraph but I don’t want to let anything go, I think its all important. I’m at a bit of a standstill, so I’ve decided not to do anything for a bit, to leave it for a few days, and then come back to it with fresh eyes. In the meantime, I’ve turned my thoughts to my online marketing strategy.
Building a social media presence
We belong in a world, where if you are a creator who wants to make your art, writing, a creative side hustle into a career, you have to have a social media presence. While researching agents and their submission criteria, it seemed that for so many the number of followers a writer already has on their social media accounts, is just as important as talent, and the quality of the manuscript submitted. The expectation is on the author, to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of promoting the book but it also feels like you are being asked to prove your marketability and ability to sell books, just by your social media presence and not the book itself. The implication being, that without these things, i.e someone like me who right now only has an Instagram following of 250 people, it would be pointless to even think about trying to get an agent.
Social media blocks
As I find my voice, I do have more things I want to share, but it still doesn’t feel like a natural habitat to me. I’m both an extrovert and shy when it comes to talking about myself, so the idea of self-promotion, makes me feel a bit icky. Right now, I feel the contradictory parts of me fighting for space in my brain; the ambitious me that wants to achieve my goals, to get out there and show people what I’m up to and to find an audience who like what I’m doing; and the quieter shyer part of me, who wants to stay behind-the-scenes. The truth is, I think I’m anxious that people just won’t care and that makes me feel vunlerable. But I’m going to have to push past this uncomfortableness and just get going. Its the only way I’m going to get what I want, so I need to start getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.
The first step
In part, this is why I created this website and started blogging, as it felt like a much more natural, organic and safer way to start putting myself out there, but now I want to start thinking beyond this ‘house’ and look to go travelling into cyber-space. Posting on my personal social media feels too exposing, so a business mentor I’m working with, suggested I set-up new social media accounts including Tik Tok, which is an unknown beast to me and build an audience who hopefully want to come along on this journey with me.
Right now, I need to come up with a name encapsulating my entire journey, which would link all my social media accounts together. Not just the book and this blog, because I’m also working on designing and producing jounals, under my vision of ‘Sharing Stories’. I would say, that what I’m really on, is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention. However, I’m struggling to come up with a name that isn’t too cheesy or vague, so I think I might have to leave it for a while, while I turn my attention to my proposal. Looks like this might be a running theme on this creative journey of mine…..!
Below are some useful links on why its important to build an online social presence and how to do so in a way, that feels honest and authentic to you. As always, I hope this blog has been helpful, would love to hear from you, if you have any questions or simply fancy saying hi.
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https://jerichowriters.com/a-simple-guide-to-social-media-for-authors/
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/10-steps-to-building-your-personal-brand-on-social-media
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/create-unstoppable-personal-online-brand
