The most tempting thing to avoid.
I wish I would have written about this earlier, but it’s going to be the most tempting thing you want to do after you finish this month out – regardless of where you are in your novel.
Don’t tell people your story yet.
There, that’s it.
I know you’re tempted to talk about it, and even narrate it. I am finding this temptation more difficult every day, especially now that my novel is about 95 percent done. I want to tell people about it, about the story line, the intricacies, the conflicts, the reveals. I want to share the love interests, the potential sequels, and the surprising twists.
But i know that would be the worst.
Andy Weir, self-published author of the bestseller, The Martian (also turned into a motion picture starring Matt Damon), said in a podcast interview that at the core of an author is the desire to have that story told and to hear people’s reaction to it. Telling people the story is a method of communicating it. If you communicate the details of what you’re writing, you may be tempted not to shut that door and get to the real work.
Here are some things I do to keep from having that door into my private world of writing swing open:
1) I create a succinct Elevator Pitch that I use to talk about my novel. This also whets people’s appetite for it (when I say people, I seriously mean about 5 people). I have this memorized. It’s on repeat in my mind and it doesn’t go into more detail than would be on the back cover.
2) I talk about how excited I am to be working on it, but not the details. I like the accountability that talking about the book offers. I don’t want to give details, but I do talk about what I feel while working on it.
3) I discuss where I am in terms of page count. I did this quite frequently, again, for accountabilities sake. This is without giving away details, but also letting those around me know how far I’ve come.
That’s it. Those are some things I would recommend you do as you round out the end of the month. Don’t allow your desire to communicate be satisfied with just talking. Keep writing!