Have you ever wanted to hit your head against the wall for missed opportunities to plug your work and yourself as a writer? If I followed through on this urge, I'd for sure be missing half of my temporal lobe by now!
My characters and story are in my head CONSTANTLY to the point that I should set them a seat at my table along with my children, yet I have the hardest time speaking about them to other people.
Recently, a good friend asked me what my book was about. She was genuinely interested but I became a bumbling idiot sadly resembling my first attempt at asking a boy to the Sadie Hawkins dance in high school. I don't know if I'm worried that the person isn't really interested and just being polite or if I just generally am too close to the whole thing to put it into words. It's almost as if someone had asked me to sum up my whole world in a sentence or two.
The most frustrating thing is that I know talking easily and convincingly about my work is essential to success. I KNOW that if I'm not enthusiastic and clear then neither will anyone else be.
But it is proving to be a hard nut to crack for this aspiring writer...
This is SUCH a hard thing for me, too. I've been working on taglines to help me with this problem--I'm doing a post about them on Monday. In the fifteen years I've been writing, I've only once been able to talk about my book without sounding like a complete idiot. It is definitely a challenge. But the more we do it, the easier it gets. And you're right about it being important.
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean! I dabble a bit in writing, nothing worth trying to get published anytime soon, but the story and characters feel a part of me, I don't think I could ever just tell someone the gist of what it's about.
ReplyDelete"It's almost as if someone had asked me to sum up my whole world in a sentence or two." This is EXACTLY right!
I know what you mean. The 25 word synopsis is a killer, and although I thought I had a great one, a publisher told me I could come up with something better. It's tough.
ReplyDeleteYou ladies have no idea how glad it isn't just me! I have full admiration for writers I meet who just lay it all out there confidently and still make sense!
ReplyDeleteWe'll all get there!