Don't Fall in Love With Your Words: Fall in Love With Your Craft

by Kelli Jae Baeli

Kelli Jae Baeli, Indie Author and Publisher with Lesbian Literati Press, and author of 38 books, numerous articles, stories and essays, shares some thoughts about the writing craft and the writer's life.

Such
"The competition to be a published writer is fierce. The dream of getting published has been overly-romanticized in the media so that many beginning writers think not only that writing is easy, but that they have a good chance of getting a contract from a major house. The odds are, realistically, one in a million-maybe worse than that. We hear about the success stories, not the ones who spend their lives toiling for that dream, to the exclusion of everything else, only to wind up poor, alone, lacking in social skills, and profoundly jaded that life has passed them by. There are so many unpublished writers who pursue this dream, and publishers and agents have had to crack down on the criteria to even LOOK at work sent. And it is very expensive for a writer to submit manuscripts, as I mentioned, and it's time consuming as we have to do this repeatedly, if we ever hope to get traditionally published. You have to pour lots of money into the endeavor over a period of many years, sometimes.
sometimes. And more often than not, this investment does not return.
Often, then, self-publishing is the only option if a writer wants to get her work out there. There's little point in spending your entire life hoping, while your words stay in a drawer. I believe as writers we are meant to honor that talent, and share it, otherwise, what's the point of having it?"

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

"To me, failing to learn to use the tools one’s craft shows laziness and disrespect for the reader. There are, however, no issues of that sort where Baeli’s writing is concerned. It’s rare to these days to find a writer whose style is technically so nearly perfect, but who’s also a damned good storyteller. I doubt if she is even capable of writing poorly." ~W. Spice

Even after 36 novels, I always try to write the sort of book I would want to read. My favorite thing to do is take a common trope and turn it on its ear. Where you expect a zig, I give you a zag. In my pages, you will find strong female characters, ethical dilemmas, and realistic storylines often filled with adventure and intense pacing, tempered by witty dialog, and happy endings. All are hallmarks of my work.

As a Bestselling Genre-Hopping Indie Author, I’ve enjoyed a sales position in the top 5% of lesbian writers, but I write crossover and mainstream fiction and have authored 26 nonfiction books, as well. All 36 of my FemFic novels have been bestsellers in the genres of domestic suspense, domestic thriller, women's adventure, romantic suspense, apocalyptic, speculative, lesfic, lesbian romance, and science fiction. I’m also a mixed-media artist (mostly clay and abstract painting) and former performing singer-songwriter with over 200 songs.

My wife, Melissa Walker-Baeli, is a budding author in her own right, and we have several co-writing projects coming soon. We live with two dogs, (Noodle and Whatnot) and two cats, (Poppet and Chicklet) on ten acres in the gorgeous Northwoods of Michigan.

Reviews

[Wayne Spiceland · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think you want to be a writer -- no, if you have to be a writer. Wanting isn't enough; the need must burn in you -- there are two reasons to read Jae's book: First, she has more than a quarter century of experience, not just in writing, but also in publishing; the latter means she knows what publishers are looking for. Secondly, Jae is a terrific writer herself, across a variety of genres, each of which she handles skillfully. No, wait! Three things. Lastly, there's Jae's wit and sense of humor and, no, folks, those are not the same thing at all. Her comments about purple prose are alone worth the purchase price.

Ursula K. LeGuin's Steering the Craft is my favorite work focusing on creating effective narrative prose, with Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction a close second. Jae's book goes beyond those to the more practical aspects of becoming a published writer, especially how those efforts affect the John Updike wannabe personally, how great a drain they can be on one's finances, time and, perhaps, even mental well-being, since writing is such a solitary activity. Despite the terrific tips on the craft of writing itself, her greatest service to the fledgling author is to point out how very damned difficult it is to get published, how slim the chances of securing a deal with a major publishing house.

All the above is to say "Writing books is not something you do for fun. You do it because you are compelled to do it. You are drawn to it like it has some inexplicable gravitational field." Becoming a published writer is not for the dabbler, the dilettante. For those who believe it's easy, Jae quickly and effectively disabuses them of that notion.

Sadly, I've just discovered that Don't Fall in Love With Your Words: Fall in Love With Your Craft is no longer available which makes all of this pointless, I guess. Since I've gone to the trouble, I'm going to post it anyway. Maybe if enough people stumble across it, Jae could be persuaded to re-release it. If not, hopefully my comments regarding its quality will encourage someone to buy one of Jae's other books, in which case, I've still succeeded in my intent.

[Kelli Baeli]

I have some strong opinions about writing and publishing, springing from my own experience over 20-25 years of pursuing it, and numerous blogs, articles, essays, and having written and rewritten 28 books; added to this is also webmastering, book cover design, typography, editing, and publishing. I wanted to learn all the aspects of completing a book.

My most commonly offered caveat is this: don't fall in love with your words; fall in love with your craft. That's when you will begin the process of being a quality writer.