You'll notice things have gone a little quiet around here. I'm neck deep in my novel's editorial process, while at the same time working on something new.
That's been a great way to clear my head. Plotting out a new book has given me a great deal more objectivity in looking at comments on Paint the Raven Black.
I can tell you, editors don't give compliments. If they did, they wouldn't help you. Especially when you're relatively new to the game, you want validation. I've been writing for most of my life, but I'm still not what I'd call a "professional". I'm newly entering the professional world and getting critiqued by more and more professional people, with increasingly critical eyes. These are people I've always wanted to impress. The fact is, I have impressed them. That's why they're beating the crap out of me now, but that doesn't stop it from sucking.
The new novel has not only given me something to do while I await the return of my manuscript. It's also given me something else to think about, and most importantly, something else to love. Enjoying my new, presently untitled project, I'm not so emotional about Paint the Raven Black.
That said, there's a bit of a problem with this blog at present. The reason I haven't been posting isn't actually because I'm busy. It's really because I'm starting to feel like a fraud.
I know a lot about creative writing. I've studied it. I know how to study it, how to critically analyse technique and how to teach it. I'm even a pretty skilled writer by many people's standards, but not so much by my own.
There comes a point where my job as a blogger is to be a writer. If I'm going to keep yapping about creative writing, there's a point where I need some evidence of having actually accomplished something.
That's why I haven't been posting. Here's why I'll start again. One important thing about being a writer is that you're out in the public. It's wrong of me to create a fan base and start letting people down. That doesn't mean I'll just go through the motions. On the contrary, it means I'll get professional. Sometimes you have to write when you don't feel great about it, and I guess that's what I've learned from not blogging for a time.
Luke is back, but I'm going to start posting on creative writing on a bi-weekly basis. The rest of the posts will be about speculative fiction. Aside from a teacher, I'm also a writer and a sociologist, and it's the latter two that inspire me into the speculative. You'll still get a post from me every week, but it's time for my blog to evolve, not just for my career, but for my sanity.
I hope you guys enjoy the new format. Boys from the Dwarf.
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