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Published Author, Darrel Day on Creative Writing

By VJ
Darrel Day, a two-time published author of works, Until Death Do We Meet and Abduction, has accepted my offer to guest-post for CuteWriting. It’s an honor to have his views on creative writing in this blog. Click here to visit Darrel’s blog.

The world of writing is a vast space that sometimes is difficult to navigate. Being a two time published author, I have learned a great deal about not just writing, but what follows. To simply write a book and then sit back and hope it sells shows little enthusiasm and less care about what the book does.

A book can talk to you, it can teach you; it can even take you as far away from your daily struggles as you allow it too. The one thing it cannot do is WALK. It must be carried by the author from place to place. Your contribution to how well the book sells or how much exposure the book will get is critical.

We all want our books to be J.L. Rowlands novels. To sell like Sandra Brown or Stephen King is of course our goal. But rejects are part of submissions and sometimes we get lucky and the right person reads our writing.

But it truly does demand, even command time from you as the writer. So important are book signings. So needed are the up close and personal times that you and your novel must spend connecting with your reading audience. Calling bookstores, introducing yourself, carrying a card that tells about your book/books is important.

Not hard work and certainly never ever unrewarding. The feeling that wells up inside you as you smile and sign that novel is nearly impossible to convey. To know that someone, somewhere, is reading your novel is a wonderful feeling. To walk into a bookstore and find your novel sitting next to Jonathon Kellerman and J.A. Jance fills you with pride and the enthusiasm to go and write your next novel.

The willingness to be an active part of your novel on every avenue is a sign that YOU yourself believe in the novel you are trying to get others to buy. Very well worth every pair of shoes you wear out. Do it! Make it happen! Remember, no feet... it can not walk. But YOU can!!!!!

Copyright © Darrel Day
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