Becoming an Author

An Untarnished Moon-photo by D. Kabat-Silverstein

A few months ago I bored you with my analysis of What Kind of Idiot Writes (August 22, 2013). Those readers that actually read to the end of the post know my conclusion was writers write because they must. They don’t have a choice. Like their fellow artists, actors and musicians, they can choose whether they express their skill as a means of finding continuity or spirituality, or they seek to share their expression with other people. A final decision regards trading on artistry as a commercial enterprise. A few brave or foolhardy souls choose to make a living from such craft. The writers who actually enter the world of selling words to the few willing to pay for such nonsense are called authors.

It is hard to say at what point in my life I first realized I was obsessed with the insufferable need to write. Throughout junior and senior high school I chose sports and part time jobs over writing for the school newspaper. In college I took both expository and creative writing classes, and filled notebooks with some mediocre poetry. My conversion to wanting to write for the screen came during my years in graduate school, so I took a course in television writing. None of these courses, in my opinion, made me a better writer. This didn’t stop me from writing two horrendous and one fairly good screenplay. I even pitched the latter to a few Hollywood producers.

Paradise in a Bird's Eye-photo by D. Kabat-Silverstein

Two years ago last February, while continuing to earn a living as a teacher, I began work on my first novel. A year ago last May, after fifteen months of constructing a world of my own invention, I shared Fermentation with a few friends and family members. Wanting to take the next step, a friend led me to a mutual acquaintance that had recently become an author. Actually, he had published a few nonfiction stories before writing his first novel, which was then published by the same publisher that published his nonfiction books. He informed me I needed to have my writing edited by a professional before submitting it for publication. Fortunately, he connected me with his talented editor. His agent, however, was unavailable.

Putting the Final Touches on It
-photo by D. Kabat-Silverstein

So, as noted in last week’s post detailing what I had done during my month long hiatus in October, after a year of having agents decline my work, I went back to the proverbial drawing board and painstakingly revised my manuscript. Late Tuesday night (it was Wednesday morning in Michigan, where she currently resides) I received the newly revised tale along with her brilliant recommendations for additions, omissions and changes. With few exceptions, I have already accepted most of her grammar alterations.

As I set to work incorporating a major change my editor proposed, which will elevate this novel to a level that will put agents and publishers who pass on it at risk of losing their status in the community, if not sizable income, my confidence grows. At the same time, once this revision is complete and I return this second final draft for tweaks to make it shine, I will not rest and until I have secured an agent for representation and found the right publisher to make me an author.