{"id":690,"date":"2016-07-01T07:53:07","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T07:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cranswick.org.uk\/judith\/?p=690"},"modified":"2016-12-01T11:52:14","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T11:52:14","slug":"the-novelist-and-depression-dealing-with-the-downside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/?p=690","title":{"rendered":"The Novelist and Depression – Dealing with the Downside"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Depression\"<\/a>We fiction writers are sensitive people \u2013 we live on our emotions. We create characters and, if we want to make them to be real for our readers, we see the world through their eyes. We put our protagonist through all kinds of misery. One problem after another. If we didn\u2019t there would be no story. The more we experience our character\u2019s pain, the better the writing will be. We train ourselves to feel the grief, the despair, the anguish. Is it any wonder that we fall victim to a certain level of despondency when life hands us a bad deal? Life is never fair. I like to claim that I\u2019m a glass half full person, trying to see the best side and count my many blessings, but there are times when I don\u2019t succeed.<\/p>\n

At some point, most fiction writers feel that life is stacked against them. We are faced with so many knocks – rejections from agents and publishing houses, bad reviews or simply periods when the writing is just not going well. These all conspire to make us doubt our abilities. The resulting state of self-pity and lack of confidence may not be clinical depression, but, if we let it fester, it soon leads to an overwhelming feeling of failure. We might even be tempted to give up writing altogether.<\/p>\n

THE REJECTIONS<\/p>\n

\"MAIN-rowling\"<\/a>The number of writers who have been accepted by an agent or publisher on their first enquiry are very few. We all know the stories of famous writers some of whom were turned down over fifty times or more. J K Rowling, Steven King and John le Carr\u00e9 were all rejected time after time. It took Agatha Christie five years before she was accepted, and her book sales are now in excess of $2 billion. Only William Shakespeare has sold more. Beatrix Potter never did find a publisher and decided to self-publish Peter Rabbit. A book which surely must rate as one of the best known and loved children\u2019s stories of all time.<\/p>\n

Many writers may be quite philosophical about receiving rejection letters or emails. We all know such things should not be taken personally, but for most of us, that doesn\u2019t heal the hurt. The quote I love best is from the great Science Fiction writer, Isaac Asimov – \u2018Rejections slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul<\/strong>, if not quite inventions of the devil.\u2019<\/p>\n

When I first started writing, the thud of that heavy envelope dropping through the letter box often came so soon after the precious manuscript had been sent away that there could barely have been time to pull it out and put it straight into the return envelope. It didn\u2019t even get as far as the slush pile on the agent\u2019s desk. Nowadays, email makes things cheaper, but the frustration is still there. When it wings back almost straight away, one could be forgiven for asking if anyone had actually bothered open the attachment? Either that or it disappears into the ether never to be seen or heard of again!<\/p>\n

You can only take so much rejection. Is it any wonder that so many of today\u2019s writers bypass the system and decide to selfpublish? After all, there is no longer a stigma to being an indie writer.<\/p>\n

\"_star_rating\"<\/a>THE REVIEW FROM HELL<\/p>\n

If our books are going to find new readers, we need good reviews. We learn to accept constructive criticism right at the start of our careers, but some reviews are downright vindictive.<\/p>\n

These are some of the one* reviews I found on Amazon \u2013<\/p>\n