My biggest ‘aha’ moment, the one that
transformed me from an aspiring writer
to an author, came after I’d written
my third book and was preparing it for self-publication. (My first book will
forever be unpublished and my second was picked up by a small press.)
I started my first novel when I was about
22 or so. I worked on it off and on for years, more than a decade. I
restructured, added bits, ripped other bits out, polished and processed. Turns
out, it was my “learning book.” I never wanted to write a learning book. I
wanted to write something amazing that would end up on bookshelves worldwide.
Here’s what I discovered: writing is a
craft, built on experience as much as talent. That first book was like a
painting that had been overworked, a wonky table sanded into a stump by an
overzealous novice carpenter. I didn’t know this then, but now I realise that a writer can’t get all the experience they
need in one book.
I spent so long on that book that I found
it difficult to move on to the next. I had such a time investment, that I
couldn’t bear to throw it out. But as soon as I let go and wrote my second
novel, suddenly I discovered hints of nuance and subtlety that had been pounded
out of that first book. By my third book, I’d learned to play with language.
I
could never have done that by continuing to torture that first book.
In those early days, I used to get so
annoyed when people would recommend that while I was submitting one book, I
should write another. I couldn’t let go. I wanted to make that book perfect. I
believed I could, given time.
Now I realise my attitude was all wrong.
Growth as a writer requires multiple projects, just as development as a painter
requires multiple canvases.
Currently, I’m writing the book that will
end a six-book series. I am still proud of the first book in that series, the first
one I self-published, but I can look back and see that I’ve developed
considerably since then. That growth never would have happened if I hadn’t
learned how to let go.
My one regret as a writer is that I didn’t
learn that lesson a decade sooner.
India
Drummond writes fantasy novels. She knew from age nine that writing
would be her passion. Since then she’s discovered many more, but none
quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and
watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has
lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and
American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish
Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box.
In other words: paradise. Find out more about her and her books at her
website: http://www.indiadrummond.com
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