In the last year or so I've started actively reading the acknowledgements of a book. I didn't used to. I just wanted the story. However, seeing how important my friends and family are to my own process of writing a novel, I realise the acknowledgments are vital.
In fact, sometimes it almost seems like the acknowledgements aren't enough. For example, one day I was speaking to my mother and she said something along the lines of "Oh I expect that to happen when you write your novel." I stopped dead and thought I must have misheard her, after all the Skype connection between New Zealand and New York is often pretty unreliable. It turned out that's exactly what she'd said. I was quite surprised and asked why she thought I would write a book. She said, you love reading, you've always loved writing and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what you do next.
She was right of course. Like mother's always know, she knew what my next step was before I did. In fact, I had always wanted to write a book, I just wasn't sure if I had it in me. Hearing my mother say that really gave me the confidence to step forward and begin. Even now as I write this, there are very few people I've told that I'm writing. I've told a few people I barely know which I seem to feel okay with, but in terms of who I speak to in my daily life I told my FH, my mum, my little sister, my older sister's husband, my roommate and one of my good friends who is the most avid reader and book critic I know.
Without my FH and my good friend, I would have been stuck before I even started. They're the ones I turn to if I can't make something flow, or find the right name for a character or a city, or if I can't quite figure out which direction my plot will head in, they're the ones I'll tell my ideas to to gauge reaction. The rest I simply told the plot to in order to see what they thought of the general idea. In fact, I only told my little sister because she was suspicious about the reason I was asking her for boys and girls names. She later told mum she was surprised at how much she liked my idea (pft, thanks little sis...!)
I'm no where near the publishing or even editing stage of my WIP, but it's nice to acknowledge the people who have stood by me and cheered me on from before day one! Sometimes, the acknowledgements just aren't enough.
Who are the people you want to shout out to, who have helped you with your writing or whatever it is you're passionate about?
In fact, sometimes it almost seems like the acknowledgements aren't enough. For example, one day I was speaking to my mother and she said something along the lines of "Oh I expect that to happen when you write your novel." I stopped dead and thought I must have misheard her, after all the Skype connection between New Zealand and New York is often pretty unreliable. It turned out that's exactly what she'd said. I was quite surprised and asked why she thought I would write a book. She said, you love reading, you've always loved writing and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what you do next.
She was right of course. Like mother's always know, she knew what my next step was before I did. In fact, I had always wanted to write a book, I just wasn't sure if I had it in me. Hearing my mother say that really gave me the confidence to step forward and begin. Even now as I write this, there are very few people I've told that I'm writing. I've told a few people I barely know which I seem to feel okay with, but in terms of who I speak to in my daily life I told my FH, my mum, my little sister, my older sister's husband, my roommate and one of my good friends who is the most avid reader and book critic I know.
Without my FH and my good friend, I would have been stuck before I even started. They're the ones I turn to if I can't make something flow, or find the right name for a character or a city, or if I can't quite figure out which direction my plot will head in, they're the ones I'll tell my ideas to to gauge reaction. The rest I simply told the plot to in order to see what they thought of the general idea. In fact, I only told my little sister because she was suspicious about the reason I was asking her for boys and girls names. She later told mum she was surprised at how much she liked my idea (pft, thanks little sis...!)
I'm no where near the publishing or even editing stage of my WIP, but it's nice to acknowledge the people who have stood by me and cheered me on from before day one! Sometimes, the acknowledgements just aren't enough.
Who are the people you want to shout out to, who have helped you with your writing or whatever it is you're passionate about?
I'd have to acknowledge my sister and my husband. Both have been very helpful and supportive through my writing endeavors.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, it's so important to acknowledge those who have helped make our dreams a reality :-)
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