On Writing Craft,
Creativity & Inspiration
by Alexander Slagg
Finding the Fun in Self-promotion
I have a novel that I’ve
completed. I’ll continue to rework it for a while (currently on draft 3). But I
think it’s at a stage where others can take a look at it. It feels like the
right time to begin the search for an agent—or a potential publisher.
This prospect touches on
several anxieties for me. I’m not
some silver-tongued, rolodex-spinning jabber jaw ready to work the phones and
make the big deal. Nor am I a sparkle-toothed, professionally coiffured
marketing android ready to march out and sell the Alexander Slagg brand. I don’t
have boundless time and energy to query and query and then query some more.
The problem is I’m a writer. My
strengths lie in sitting down and writing, using my imagination, nailing down
the right descriptive term. How do I go out and play all of these other roles:
deal maker, cheerleader, carnival barker?
When I run up against barriers
like this in my life, I’ve come to recognize them as opportunities to grow and
expand my notion of who and what I am. How will I go out and find a backer for
my book? I’ll just do it—in my own time and in a way that feels comfortable to
me. I will build enough internal inertia to overcome my anxieties, and start
taking the small steps that encompass the journey to publication.
This is not an uncommon
situation for writers—discomfort with the peripheral duties that go with
writing something and trying to reach a broader audience with it. But as much
as I may identify with the idea of being a writer and whatever connotations
this label carries for me, I’m also other things.
I have many roles in life. In
certain situations, I enjoy socializing. I can talk about myself, about my
writing, about literature. I can be open enough to share with others that I
think my book is kind of a big deal. (And if I didn’t truly believe that at
heart, why would I bother to share it with others?) Occasionally, I can be the
person who’s able to conjure up single-minded focus for querying, the one who
can go out and sell a project.
Thinking back on past
experience, the best way for me to dial in these needed characteristics is to
bring a sense of play to the task at hand. I remember fondly one of my
job-seeking experiences when I was in my twenties.
On a whim, I picked up a pair
of cheap eyeglasses from a Chinese import store. Sleek, platinum frames
(plastic!) with nonprescription lenses. The next day, I started wearing them to
job interviews, joking with myself that they brought a modern, “employable”
sheen to my appearance.
I was in on a little joke with
myself, in what was otherwise a stressful situation. This made the experience
fun. And bringing a sense of play to the dreary task of finding work made it
bearable—and eventually got me employed, landing me in a great situation.
And that’s often the missing
puzzle piece in situations where we’re starting uncomfortable tasks we don’t
feel we’re up for—a sense of play or whimsy. When some fun gets added to the
mix, we can do most anything.
* * *
Touching
on various aspects of the writing process, Reflections from the Well is more
than a rote column, it’s a literary lounge where writers and other creators are
invited to share their own experiences. Share your comments with Alex for possible
inclusion on the LWN blog or in his next reflection at
aslagg@literarywritersnetwork.org.
