Jane Porter: Do You Want it or Not?

Please welcome Jane Porter today!

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I want it.  For me, it’s that simple.  I really want to write and I really want to publish.  That’s not to say I don’t suffer from self-doubt, get the blues, or struggle with my creative muse, because I do (a lot), but my desire to write, and my desire to publish, is even stronger than the fear and the sacrifices I’ve had to make.

               

But sitting down at the keyboard, finding the words, searching for a great metaphor or the next crucial scene is only half the battle of writing.  As romance writers we also have to choose to write great fiction, great COMMERCIAL fiction, fiction that appeals to the readers and the market. 

 

I’m not advocating writing to guidelines, but writing with an awareness of guidelines.  The romance writer must write to please herself (her own worst critic) and yet find a market for her stories and her voice.  If you want to publish, if you want to be part of the genre, you’ll know the market and you’ll constantly work at improving your voice.

 

I’m not a professional author, but I am a professional writer.  I take writing seriously.  I have regular office hours.  I give myself tough deadlines.  I finish books and submit them.

 

As a professional writer, I read my friends’ manuscripts.  I read friends’ books in print.  I read the “competition”.  But in the end, when I come back to my computer, I look for “me” in my stories.  I look for the hooks, the motivation, the conflicts, the characterization that makes a book real for me.  I cannot write a Presents with Lynne Graham’s voice.  I cannot write a Superromance with Janice Kay Johnson’s voice.  I cannot write a historical with Susan Wigg’s voice.  I can only write as Jane Porter and that has to be good enough.

 

It is good enough.

 

Part of being a professional is choosing to think positive, learning to set goals, and focusing.

 

And we must write.  Every day, or as often as possible.

 

Truly, if you want to write and publish, you will.  But you have to want it badly.

 

For some of us publishing will be easy.  For others, it will be a tremendous test of faith and will.  But it can be done.  I first submitted an untitled manuscript to Mills & Boon when I was eighteen and a freshmen in college.  I had my first sale just before I turned thirty-six.  In between my first attempt and my first sale I wrote more books than I care to remember, cried more nights than I’m comfortable sharing.

 

I poured my heart and soul into manuscript after manuscript but I never gave up because deep down, deep inside me, I believed I could do it.  I would do it.  And finally, I did.

 

So do you want it, or not?  It’s all up to you.

 

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Bestselling author Jane Porter has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award four times, has over 12 million copies in print .  Jane's novel, Flirting With Forty, picked by Redbook as its Red Hot Summer Read, went back for seven printings in six weeks before being made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear.  September 2012 brought the release of The Good Woman, the first of her Brennan Sisters trilogy, followed in February 2013 by The Good Daughter, and book three in the series, The Good Wife, is slotted for release in September.  A mother of three sons, Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband.

Jane Porter on the web:

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 The Good Wife

Is it possible to love someone too much?

Always considered the beauty of the family, the youngest Brennan sister, Sarah, remains deeply in love with her husband of ten years. Boone Walker, a professional baseball player, travels almost year-round while Sarah stays home and cares for their two children. Her love for her
husband is bottomless—so much so that her sisters say it will end up hurting her.

Living apart most of the time makes life difficult, especially since Sarah often wonders whether Boone is sharing his bed with other women on the road, even though he swears he’s been true to her since his infidelity three years ago. While she wants to be happy and move forward in her life, Sarah constantly fears that Boone will break his promise. Now with Boone facing yet another career change, tension rises between the two, adding more stress to an already turbulent marriage. Emotionally exhausted, Sarah can’t cope with yet another storm. Now, she must either break free from the past and forgive Boone completely, or leave him behind and start anew . . .

Read an Excerpt

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Thanks for sharing your journey Jane!

What about you? What are you doing to prove you want it enough?