This is an ongoing series of “questions every author avoids answering” (based on this video by Dale L. Roberts) and my answers to them. I recommend every author ask themselves these same questions to better understand themselves and their art.
Question:
What excites you most as an author?
The quick
answer:
Sharing my
stories with new readers.
The long
answer:
There are a lot of exciting times as an author. I love coming up with ideas for new stories and daydreaming about them, like watching a movie of the story come to life in my imagination before I ever type a word. It’s a small excitement, sorta like seeing a piece of chocolate cake and knowing you’ll get to eat it.
There’s also that moment when you first sit down and start typing to bring the story to life, as if you were giving birth to the idea (I know that sounds corny, but stick with me).
Or there’s the excitement and satisfaction of writing “The End” at the end of your first draft. Oh, that’s a good one! In fact, that was almost my official answer to this question. It’s a moment that you celebrate in some major way. I buy myself a small luxury when this happens.
The moment when the first author copies arrive and you get to open the box and hold your creation in your hands, that’s also a good one, particularly for your first publication. Here’s a video of the unboxing of my first copies of Dragon of the Federation. You just want to take that book, do a little ritual, climb to a high rocky prominence, and present it to the world with some epic music in the background, à la Simba’s birth.
Oh, and there’s also the excitement of walking into a bookstore and seeing your book sitting there on the shelf next to all those other published authors. That’s always a very validating moment (it’s even better when you knew it was there and then is gone the next time you walk in, because it was sold to someone!).
But truth be told, nothing gives me as much of a rush as a new reader who has come up to my table, heard my pitch for a book, and their eyes go wide, they say “Oooo!” as they learn about the interesting premise of the story, and they eagerly want to start reading my work. Dear reader, now you are as excited as I am. How wonderful that we share that!
Sometimes I think it’s a bit of an ego trip. Like my inner child is yelling “I can’t deny the fact that you like me! Right now, you like me!” lol. Yes, I feel that, every time.
But it’s not just ego or vanity or whatever. There is an overwhelming joy that I, and most authors, feel in sharing our creations. Bringing our characters to life in our head isn’t enough. It’s far more satisfying that they come to life in YOUR head, too, and in your own imagination, however different that character may be for you. It’s not just about the money we earn or the volume of sales or spreading our “brand” or whatever. Sharing is caring, right? Those moments that you spend reading my books, we are sharing a common imagination and bringing that world to reality.
Cheers and
happy reading!
