How To Be Patient, or “Why Hasn’t Your Book Been Made Into A Movie?”

Since becoming a writer, I slightly dread family gatherings. In many ways, “How’s the book going?” is a perfectly normal question to ask, but it isn’t an easy one to answer. I reply with variations of “great, thanks”, but I’m really thinking, which book? The one I’m drafting, the one I’m copy-editing, the one just published, or the backlist on Kindle promo? It’s complicated. And even worse than the, “How’s the book going?” question is the, “Any plans for a movie?” question.  

Deep breath as I juggle a glass of wine and a large slice of Minions birthday cake and attempt to explain why another author’s book is being adapted for the big screen and, well, mine isn’t. “You should definitely get yours made into a movie,” they say. “You’re right. I should. Hold my wine while I ring Spielberg.”

If only it was that easy.

And that’s the funny thing about writing. It starts out with a dream to write a book, and before you know it you’re ever-so-slightly disappointed that you don’t have an Oscar nod for your adapted screenplay. The writing dream, as it turns out, is constantly evolving.

The saying goes that getting published is difficult, but staying published is even more so. For many writers, the idea of being patient is a difficult and frustrating thing to grasp. We want instant gratification. Not in five years, or three more books. We want it all to happen now. Naturally, we dream of hitting the big time with our debut novel. It’s part of what keeps us turning up at the writing desk every day. But for most of us, it takes time and hard work. A lot of time and hard work. And there will be plenty of failure and rejection along the way. This is what our well-meaning family and friends don’t understand when they ask, with sad eyes, why we still haven’t been on Saturday Night Live.

So, positive pants on, what if it does happen and we make the bestseller lists first time around? The dream is complete, right?

Wrong.

The dream e x p a n d s.

We get a bestseller, we want subway posters. We get subway posters, we want a hardback with beautiful endpapers. Then we want awards and a line of fans at our signing events. We get all that and we want Reese Witherspoon to option our movie rights. Right? Right! This isn’t arrogance. It’s perfectly normal.

It’s important to have something to aim for, new aspirations to motivate us. That our author goals shift as we begin to understand the industry and the small steps and giant leaps a book needs to take in order to be successful, makes perfect sense, because although the multi-million copy, internationally-bestselling debuts might grab the headlines, the more usual experience is a lot of quiet hard graft and many moments of uncertainty.

Maths was never my strong point, but I’m pretty sure the formula for success in writing is something like 10% words and 90% tenacity. It’s about hard work, perseverance and patience; the ability to keep going, to keep working, to keep cheering everyone else on that will reap the rewards. And remember: someone else’s success is not your failure.

The good news (hooray!) is that we all get our turn. I truly believe this. And until that time comes we must relish the journey. We need to enjoy our writing (it is, after all, where this all started). We need to savour the email from a reader who was moved to tears by our words. We need to enjoy the quiet thrill of finding something in a research document that makes our story make sense. And when it comes along, we need to enjoy the launch party and the award nominations and lunch with Hollywood executives. No, it won’t always go our way, but that’s part of the job. As Kipling so brilliantly puts it in his poem ‘If’: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two imposters just the same …

Above all, we need to learn to be patient. You may think those other authors got lucky with their movie deal (damn it! Why didn’t I think of doing that?), or that they somehow don’t deserve their success, but believe me, they do.

And when your turn comes, so will you.

—
Hazel Gaynor is the acclaimed New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME for which she was awarded the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her second novel, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS was a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick and her third novel, THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY, was shortlisted for the 2016 Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year. All her books continue to hit bestseller lists internationally, and are translated into eight foreign languages to date. In 2017, Hazel published LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS (co-written with Heather Webb) and THE COTTINGLEY SECRET, which went on to become a USA Today bestseller.

Her latest historical novel is THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER. Hazel has written extensively for publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including TIME Magazine, The Irish Times, Writer’s Digest, and the Huffington Post. She is a popular speaker at literary festivals in Ireland and the UK, appearing at the Historical Novelist’s Society Conference and the Dublin International Literary Festival, among others. She is co-founder of creative writing retreats The Inspiration Project. Hazel lives in Ireland with her husband and two children. Find out more at www.hazelgaynor.com or chat with Hazel on social media. Find her at @hazelgaynor on Twitter and Instagram and @hazelgaynorbooks on Facebook.

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, Hazel Gaynor

From The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home comes a historical novel inspired by true events, and the extraordinary female lighthouse keepers of the past two hundred years.

“They call me a heroine, but I am not deserving of such accolades. I am just an ordinary young woman who did her duty.”

1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England, the subject of poems, ballads, and plays. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and a visiting artist. Just as George Emmerson captures Grace with his brushes, she in turn captures his heart.

1938: Newport, Rhode Island. Nineteen-years-old and pregnant, Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women, living a century apart, will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.

“A splendid read–The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter is not to be missed!” (Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Alice Network)

“Hazel Gaynor’s skillful artistry as a storyteller glitters like the sun…” (Susan Meissner, New York Times Bestselling Author of As Bright as Heaven)

“This is historical fiction at its finest.” (Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece)

BUY THE BOOK HERE

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