“Basically, you suck and have no chance of ever not sucking.”

I’ve been reading a LOT of books on novel writing lately.  Especially if they focus on writing your first novel.  Many times, I’ve finished the book and been left with this thought:  “Why am I even bothering to write?  I suck.”

All of these “helpful” volumes insist that, since I’ve never been published, I will never be published – unless I use self-publishing.

My favorite take away:  If I want to improve my writing, that means that I need to improve my writing, and since the craft of writing is not something that can be taught (it is, of course, an innate ability given to a select few at birth), I have zero chance of ever improving my writing.

WHAT???  I don’t think that was what Hemingway meant…

It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.

I bought these books to learn, not to be told “I’m going to tell you how to write a good book.  But since you bought this book, you don’t have what it takes to write one yourself.”

I’ve been thinking I must be the only person who feels this way, but yesterday I came across Too Much Coffee, a post at thenovelinherhead.  It was very uplifting to find that there are other writers out there who are getting the same messages from these books (and a little sad).

Why aren’t other how-to and self-help books written this way?  Because no one else would buy them!

If I bought a book to teach me how to build the shelves in my library but almost every page told me my shelves will more than likely fall down because I’m not a professional carpenter, I would post a 1-star review of the book on the web.  And I probably wouldn’t be the only person who would do so…

Ultimately though, I’m over it (even though this post kinda sounds like I’m not).  I’m going to take what I can from these books, hopefully become a much better writer, and try to leave the negativity on the pages.

I just want to let all the other beginner novelists know that you’re not alone.  And I believe in you, (even if the brilliant authors who wrote those how-to books your reading don’t).

 An Added Thought:  

I recently came across this article, Best-Sellers Initially Rejected.  If it doesn’t make you feel better, I don’t know what will…  Here are some of my favorites from that list:

“Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.” A rejection letter sent to Dr Seuss. 300 million sales and the 9th best-selling fiction author of all time.

The Christopher Little Literary Agency receives 12 publishing rejections in a row for their new client, until the eight-year-old daughter of a Bloomsbury editor demands to read the rest of the book. The editor agrees to publish but advises the writer to get a day job since she has little chance of making money in children’s books. Yet Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling spawns a series where the last four novels consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history, on both sides of the Atlantic, with combined sales of 450 million.

Three years of rejection letters are kept in a bag under her bed. The bag becomes so heavy that she is unable to lift it. But Meg Cabot does not dwell on the failure. Instead she keeps sending her manuscript out. It gets taken on and The Princess Diaries sells 15 million copies.