Thursday 5 November 2015

Guest Post: Aimee Horton on Writing For Yourself






Write For Yourself
by Aimee Horton


Don’t write for anybody but yourself.

I once wrote a thriller.

I wrote it because I was desperate to be published and all the agents I spoke to at events said thrillers were where it was at. It was all about Gone Girl back then, and books with black covers.

If that’s what they want, that’s what I’ll write. I thought.

So I did. I wrote one. And I’ve rewritten it about 50 million times and I’m still not happy with it. Because it’s not me. And that’s when I realised that as much as I wanted to write it, really really wanted to, you could tell it was forced – which in turn taught me a valuable lesson.

Don’t write for anybody but yourself.

It’s a tricky motto to work to. I mean, all any author wants is for their book to be published, isn’t it? And then, when you’ve got it published you want it to be well received, before having to start all over again. That’s right, you’ve got write the next one, and you’re praying it’s as well received as the last one. That you haven’t let anybody down.

That was my biggest worry when I started Mothers Ruined. Turning a character who talks in social media updates in Survival of the Ginnest to a full length traditional novel could have gone horribly wrong, and I didn’t want to let Dottie, or her fans down. But I couldn’t worry about that as I sat down for my first day. I just had to get on with it.

Stop thinking, and get writing.

Easier said than done isn’t it? But I do believe that the key to a good book, is the author believing in it. After all, if you’re struggling to connect with your characters, how are people who aren’t in on your vision meant to?

Which is why I think people like Dottie. Because I love her. Writing Dottie is a pleasure. She makes me laugh, I totally empathise with her, and I think that reflects in my writing. You can tell I’m laughing as I write. I want to be Dottie’s best friend, and I think that makes a lot of people want to be her best friend too.

So if you want to write a book, just stop trying to work out how you can make it into a best seller – and just write it. Failing that – drink gin, then write.

---

Find Aimee's books on Amazon:

Survival of the Ginnest
Lush in Translation (or download for free by signing up to Aimee's newsletter here)
Survival of the Christmas Spirit (free!)
Mother's Ruined

---




Like Aimee Horton's Facebook page and post a photo to her wall of yourself with any of her books. The giveaway is open to UK residents and you can win GIN! What's not to love? For full details, check out the photo below and Aimee's blog post here.




---

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...