What I Learned from Writing Preston
By Andy Heath
At the time I write this, June 2009, I have sent out about seventy query letters to agents to see if they are interested in reading my manuscript Preston. I hope that some of them are interested in seeing it, as I would love to see the book in print and in my TOTALLY UNBIASED opinion - NOT - it has a great message. I think people will enjoy this book far more than they would have enjoyed my first one if it had ever been published. Preston is a tighter plot and, well, just more interesting. My mother didn't even finish reading my first novel, but I think she will enjoy reading this one.
While I was writing the book, I noticed a few things that happened. First of all, my characters seemed to take on a life of their own. Holly Lisle, who has an excellent web site for writers, says that at some point your characters will stare at you from the page and say, "I'm not doing that!" I think she was right to say that. My characters really did come to life, and I have to admit I got attached to them.
Another thing I noticed was that my subconscious mind seemed to be more in control of producing the manuscript than I was. As I was writing the manuscript, I realized that, even after planning the thing carefully, some things I had planned were just not going to work. My subconscious mind, however, made sure that I was able to find an alternate route, and somehow that alternate route was always better than what I had originally planned.
Another thing I noticed was that no one is ever as excited about a novel as the author is. Whenever I told people about the novel, the most common response was something along the lines of, "Oh, how cute! You're writing a novel!" This mainly came from family and friends that, in my opinion, just did not think I was up for the task.
Occasionally some would ask what the novel was about. That's another thing I had to learn - people in rural Tennessee are not appreciative of gay novels. In fact, when I sent it to Office Max to have it printed and when I went to pick it up, one of the employees there was laughing about it in front of me saying, "You will not believe what someone asked us to print!" It turned out to be my novel. Silly woman. She should have known better than that. But still, I have to realize that I'm just not going to get much support around this area.
Still another thing I learned is that when you tell people you wrote a gay novel, they almost always assume that it's erotic in nature. To some people, there simply is nothing else to homosexuality. Let me tell you, there is a LOT more to homosexuality than just sex. We are still trying to make our mark in the world via business and the arts, and we are trying to gain acceptance from the straight community.
Yes, I have definitely learned a lot about myself and about the world in general from writing a novel. If you're interested in learning how to write a novel so you can gain similar insights or epiphanies, I would humbly recommend Holly Lisle's website.
Yes, I have found very few things that will teach you as much about yourself as writing a novel will.
