Feeling Like a Writer
Mike Cooper joined my OneRoom novel group in March of 2016. He lives in Sydney, Australia. A few days after he joined, I scheduled a phone/video chat with him so I could get to know more about him and his writing. He had written numerous short stories and drafted two novels in planned trilogy of fantasy books aimed at children ages 10–12. He also teaches children within this age range. We set a goal for him to write the third book in his trilogy and seek publication.
Thanks for making me feel more like a writer, especially now that I have a physical deadline to produce something. I’m not really sure where to begin my search for agents, so if you could nudge me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it.
He was further encouraged after his first online group meeting. He sent me this quick follow-up note:
Just wanted to say how useful our session earlier this week was for me. I’ve been able to more clearly define my plot and my characters are going to be stronger as a result. Seems I made a good decision to sign up with OneRoom.
While Mike was happy with the plan we had crafted and the support of his fellow group members, his surety faltered a few weeks in. He had initially approached us to learn about the business side of writing, and as he completed the second book of his trilogy he began to feel a little uneasy.
I am officially daunted now that the creative process is giving way to the selling process.
As his coach, I set out to separate the selling process from the writing process, recommending he set aside a specific time each week for working solely on the business of writing. The rest of his writing time was to be reserved for creative work only. He was able to extricate the creative from the professional, and he continued to hum away, working happily on the third book in his trilogy:
560 words of a plot synopsis for Book 3. If I can bring it off, it ties up all the loose ends from the first two books. I’ve answered one big question from Book One. I wasn’t sure where it was headed when I put it there, now I know. Go me.
In the meantime, just a few months into his assigned book publication research, Mike found a self-publisher in Australia he’s working with. This from a writer who felt baffled by the publishing process when he started with OneRoom:
I’m powering ahead with the publishing stuff with Hourigan & Co. I’ve booked a manuscript assessment with the tutor from the writing course I took late last year. She’ll do that in September, then I’ll have Book One market ready. Using her feedback, I’ll work on Book Two and get it ready to go for the first quarter of 2017. Book 3 can then follow in the latter part of next year.
With the prospect of publishing his first two books, Mike set aside drafting his third book and turned to revision, realizing he couldn’t start writing Book 3 until the kinks and threads in 1 and 2 had been sorted out. We decided to move his deadline to begin writing Book 3, and he started in earnest on revision.
When the revision process was complete, Mike’s next step in his writing plan we created was to begin looking again at traditional publishing.
Because Mike had put in a ton of revision work, he was ready to write the third book in his trilogy. He was four months into the program, and he read the first chapter of the newly began third book to his “beta-readers,” his 11-year-old students who had already experienced the first two books. I felt Mike was really hitting his writing stride and was excited when he emailed me saying:
Writing felt powerful this week. The story flowed. I’ve hit 10k words. Not bad considering a month ago, there was about 1k. Of not so good stuff. The threads that began in Books 1 and 2 are weaving themselves into the overall structure. This, Laura, is writing. The thing has taken a life of its own, and is almost writing itself.
Mike has developed enormously as a writer in the past five months, understanding his revision process better and how incorporating feedback from his beta-readers makes his finished work better and sets the stage for a nuanced and plot-consistent third book in his trilogy. He’ll be hitting his sixth month with OneRoom soon, and we expect him to have drafted his third book and have a clearer idea of the publishing route he wishes to take.
Mike brings so much excitement and passion to his writing, and he has put in a lot of hard work. It’s been wonderful to help him push through the difficult parts and settle down into the joy of writing. I expect he will succeed. Go Mike!
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