Milestones

 

Whitish sand dampening along the coastal edge stretched for two kilometres and I just had to walk along it. Combining pleasure and exercise, motivated me to go right to the end and touch the 1km marker stone. It’s the Fish Hoek tradition anyway. That’s what got me to thinking about the milestones of writing.

Rather naively, when I finished my first novel, I thought all the hard work had been completed. Little did I realise this was only a fraction of the writing process. While trying to stay positive and motivated during the 80,000 words, I hadn’t given a thought to the weaknesses both of myself as the writer and of the ‘completed’ work. I had given a passing glance to Google’s seven stages: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, publishing, without even considering these seven stages also contained a minefield of subtitles.

Pitting my current WIP against these headings, I am forced to recognise that I am weak in several areas, the most prominent being ‘sharing’. You see, I don’t like sharing before my work is completed. I discovered this in my sermon training. If I shared with someone, usually my spouse, they always seemed to have better ideas than I did, resulting in me tearing my work up and being left with nothing to deliver. Or worse still, meandering off in a divergent tangent which could never be completed because it actually wasn’t my idea.

I don’t have any regular BETA readers for my work. Most of those who would be brilliant for this are busy writers themselves. Yes, I hear you, I could employ professionals to do the job, but then would the investment be justified by sales? It is a quandary! It seems that a lot of writers earn extra cash by giving professional advice on a new writer’s work. Hmm, am I being cynical?

To be fair, I did receive some positive replies from the ACW Facebook group, when I asked for endorsements to several of my bible study guides. Yes, you were helpful and challenging in your responses for those smaller pieces.

Pulling myself back on the topic, I must be moving forward. I had never heard of book launches, self-publishing, Ingram/KDP, Instagram, marketing, self-promotion, book signings, library events, book fests or the myriad of other complications which I now embroil myself in. So, what is my point?

The milestones of writing as mentioned above can be helpful but while congratulating myself on the things I have completed well, I must give a thought to those weak areas which could improve my final product, if considered carefully. It is often when we are challenged, we produce a better quality of work.

 

Rosalie Weller is an ordained minister in the Uniting Presbyterian church of Southern Africa. She is now retired and writing in the East Midlands. Her writing interests are broad, including writing bible study guides, historical fiction and poetry. All her books are available from Amazon. For more information see her website www.rosalieweller.com. Her YouTube channel can be found by searching Reverend Rosalie Weller YouTube, for a monthly bible reflection.