The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on the Wall

One writer’s off-road trek from tiny opus to published novel

Some people know exactly what they want to be when they grow up. Not me. I wanted to be a jockey (too tall). A singer (stage fright and no musical aptitude). And an astronomer (let’s be real, the stars are cool but my talents in math, chemistry, and physics leave a lot to be desired). 

A glimpse of the future

Like many little girls I was obsessed with horses. The first story I remember writing was about ponies who lived in a marsh and the little girl who saves them. I shared my tiny opus with my grandmother, who was an elementary school reading teacher. Her reaction was lukewarm at best (more about that in a minute), so I moved on to other interests. 

As a senior in high school, I toyed with writing again but wasn’t serious about it. Although, I probably should have seen the writing on the wall since I excelled in English and vasty preferred essays and research papers to quantitative tests.

You want me to what?

As a freshman at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, I was required to take a freshman writing course. After the requisite assignments to prove we could write a proper term paper, the grad student running the course threw us for a loop.

Write something creative, she said. It could be whatever we wanted—short story, start of screenplay, first chapters of a novel, a collection of poems—but it had to be about 14 pages long. To be honest we were all a bit baffled at first, but I finally asked her if I could create a story based on a comic book series I loved. I got the go-ahead and started writing. As soon as I did, something clicked, and writing became fun.

In the end, I turned in a 75-page story. (In case anyone is wondering, I got an A in the class).

Nothing’s stopping me but me

After that, I started to wonder—what’s stopping me from writing a book? I realized the only thing standing in my way was me. So, I started working on an idea between classes. I eventually had a 250-page manuscript which I put away when I was done. I’d heard you should take a break between writing your work and editing it, so that’s what I did. I could hardly wait to get back to it—I knew it was a great story.

Thirty days later, I took it back out.

It. Was. Awful.

What did I do? I threw it all away. 

But I didn’t quit. 

I was determined to get the story out of my head and onto paper. I kept one character and one scene and started over. And let me tell you, there is nothing like throwing away 250 pages of your hard work to make you humble.

Taking the road less traveled

Between rewriting and multiple—and I mean multiple—rounds of editing, I finally had a manuscript to submit. This was back in the day where there were no such things as online submissions or #pitmad on Twitter. You had to print out all your stuff, mail it to a publisher or agent (and you could only send to one person at a time—simultaneous submissions weren’t accepted). Then you waited for weeks, and usually all you got back was a “thanks but no thanks” form letter.

Eventually, I got frustrated with that. I know all the stories about how many hugely successful authors were rejected dozens and dozens of times, and that persistence finally paid off. That is all very true, but it can be hard to be tenacious when you never seem to get anywhere. You start to wonder if you should just quit. 

Or do something different.

I elected for “different” and eventually took a chance on print-on-demand publishing, which was a newer concept at the time, and published my first novel, Darkstar Rising.

Getting back to Grandma

Before I move on, let’s get back to my grandmother. After Darkstar came out, she was very proud. One day she said something to the effect of, I remember a story you wrote years ago about ponies. It was excellent. Very, very good.

That made me pause. I asked her why, if she thought it was so good, didn’t she say so back then?

Her response? Oh, I thought it was too good for a child your age. I was afraid you might have copied it from somewhere, and I certainly didn’t want to encourage anything like that.

I was speechless. All I could think was, thanks for the vote of confidence in my moral fortitude and ethical standards, Grandma. I called her on it, asking if she actually thought her goody-two-shoes granddaughter would do that. She brushed it off with a laugh, but it bothered me for a long time.

Too big for my literary britches

Darkstar helped blossom my confidence—to a level I hadn’t earned. I boldly announced that my next project would be a trilogy. Mind you, I didn’t even have an idea for the story at that point. Now, that goal might work for some writers, but it was a cosmically bad decision for me. The idea I eventually came up with never came together the way I wanted. And because I refused to let go of my myopic belief that it had to be a trilogy, I got more and more frustrated. And more and more stuck.

Stuck to the point where I almost stopped writing. It wasn’t fun anymore and had turned into a source of stress and anxiety. Something I had to do, not something I wanted to do.

I put the trilogy away and found refuge in fanfiction. It let me still write, to have some creative outlet, but it took the pressure off. Now, I know there are some authors who are supporters of fanfiction and there are some who are not. For me, it was a great opportunity to not only rediscover that writing is supposed to be fun, but also practice some techniques that I needed to improve.

Back in the saddle again

Eventually, the itch to do my own original work came back. A few days before National Novel Writing Month kicked off, I was doing yard work and just daydreaming about what I might want to do for a NaNo project. The spark of an idea popped into my head: Dark Fae running Boston’s criminal underworld. Two days later, I kicked off NaNoWriMo with an original project that would become Shadow King.

After my first draft was complete, I spent some time rewriting and editing Shadow King. I invested in having a professional editor go through it (totally worth it, in my opinion). But to be honest, I was dreading sending it out to publishers and agents. The idea of being on that hamster wheel again was, frankly, a little soul-crushing. But I was prepared to do it.

Roll of the dice

Then I read about the Launch Pad Manuscript Competition for unpublished manuscripts. The winner would get a full publishing package—but what caught my eye was the fact that entrants had the opportunity to get feedback from the judges. And the judges were big deals in the publishing and movie industry. I figured, what’s the worst that could happen? Maybe they hate it, but at least they’d tell me why they hated it.

To my delighted surprise, I made it to the Top 100 List, then to the Top 75… and I kept going until I landed in the Top 10 Finalists. And while I didn’t win the top prize, making it that far in the competition allowed me to connect with my first publisher – And Shadow King was officially published in 2018. The following year, I did another NaNoWriMo project and proceeded to enter that manuscript in the second Launch Pad competition. The Devil Inside made it to the Top 25 and was published in 2021.

Once Devil was out, I decided to do something different. I switched genres from dark/urban fantasy to women’s fiction. Stone Heart was based on an earlier idea I’d had and had tucked away for future reference. I did, of course, take a third swing at Launch Pad—I only made it to the Top 75 this time around, but honestly, I am very proud that all three of my manuscripts made it that far.

Stone Heart was released in August 2022.

What’s next?

I’m not entirely certain what’s next. As I’m sure you can tell, my writing journey has been more of a meandering stroll as opposed to an itinerary-guided trip. And I guarantee, your writing journey is going to be very different from mine—which is totally fine. We all move through the universe differently.

I am going to offer a few bits of advice based on what my own journey has taught me:

First, everyone’s voyage is different. Just because your path is different than mine doesn’t mean it is better or worse. 

Second, be open to trying something different. Don’t get too stuck on how you believe things should happen—be open to an alternate route to your destination. Entering the Launch Pad Competition wasn’t originally part of my grand plan—but entering it changed everything for me. 

Third, share your own story with other writers. We all have our highs and our lows, and the lows can be pretty lousy. Your story might help another writer realize they’re not totally alone out there, and sometimes that’s just the boost we all need.

Lastly, sometimes the people close to you will say things about your writing that hurt (I love you, Grandma, but I’m looking at you.) You have a choice, you can let that stuff stand in your way, or you can let it go and move forward. I highly recommend letting it go. You don’t have to forget it, but don’t let it hold you back.

Happy writing!

*At the time it was called the Launch Pad Manuscript Competition, but it’s been renamed to Launch Pad Prose Competition.

—

Susan K. Hamilton is an award-winning, multi-genre author whose books include Shadow King, Darkstar Rising, The Devil Inside, and Stone Heart. She’s also had the good fortune to have several short stories included in anthologies.

Follow her on social media:

https://twitter.com/RealSKHamilton

https://www.facebook.com/hamiltonsusank/

https://www.instagram.com/realskhamilton/

STONE HEART

Lauren Stone is no stranger to regret…

A singer in a successful band, she’s learned a hard lesson over the years: people don’t love her for who she really is. They love what she is and what she can do for them. The only person who ever truly loved her ended their relationship years ago, and it nearly destroyed her. But Lauren doesn’t have time to pine over lost love. If she doesn’t get her songwriting mojo back-and fast-The Kingmakers’ new album is going to be a colossal failure.

When Lauren returns home to New York for a recording session, a publicity stunt gone awry brings her face-to-face with her past and her biggest regret: Danny Padovano, the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart. The spark between them is still there but getting involved with Danny again is one step short of insanity. Lauren knows she’s playing with fire-things are a lot more complicated now than they were when Lauren and Danny were younger, and the stakes are much, much higher. Soon, everything Lauren’s worked so hard to achieve starts to unravel.

Can she come to terms with her regrets? Or will they finally destroy her?

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips