_{*Saturday’s Sound Off is an open venue for speaking out on issues related to books, book publishing, magazines, etc.  The plan is that there will be no regular, sole contributor, but that this column space will serve as an online speakers’ corner, providing a platform for people passionate about books with something to say.}

You Worked Hard To Be Lucky by Sandra Ruttan

I’m under contract to deliver another manuscript in January.  A lot of people assume this means I’m sitting cross-legged, humming with my eyes closed and occasionally typing in frantic bursts as the muse reveals the next part of the story to me.

In reality, it means I’m chronicling timelines for the plot threads, writing and sometimes re-writing various scenes until they work, editing sections already written for consistency and typos, and crossing things off a long list of things that have to be done to finish the book.

Part of the reason the “muse” mentality drives me nuts is because it infers writing isn’t work… and it is.  Sure, it isn’t the same as digging a ditch, but I know from experience it’s also not the same as being an administrative assistant.  Some days, it’s easy for me to hide in the tasks that need to be done for Spinetingler, for book promotion… Heck, some days I even do house-cleaning so that I don’t have to sit down and face the daunting task of writing the next scene because there are times it’s hard.  Sometimes, the words come easy, and sometimes, each one feels forced.

There may be moments when I read something or hear something and all of a sudden, a hazy part of the story snaps into place, but that’s called inspiration, not divination.  Even if you’re fortunate enough to have a few dozen moments of inspiration during the writing of one novel, there’s a lot of work that has to be put in covering the thousands of words between those points.

So, some people believe in the muse, and I don’t.  People work different ways, and whatever works for them is between them, their agent, editor and the deadline on their contract… and, I guess, their muse.  The main reason it bugs me is because the thinking behind the muse - that this is all some airy-fairy mystical process that can’t be reasoned or explained and happens to us chosen authors is because we’ve got some special gift - is closely tied to another common philosophy.

That you get to be an author because you’re lucky.

This isn’t limited to authors.  For some reason, being an artist is often associated more with luck than with talent, hard work and persistence.  We’ve all seen at least the adds for the movies, about the small-town waitress who mouths off some Hollywood celeb or producer unknowingly, and she’s just perfect for the part he can’t fill in his upcoming movie, so he’s gonna make her a star.

Or the idea that some college student will suddenly open their mouth one day and out will come a voice that would make Aretha Franklin jealous.

I’ve seen people who seem to adopt that philosophy and apply it to writing.  They think that they’ll tell someone they’re planning to write a novel, and what it’s about, and that person will be wowed by their genius.  Now, don’t misunderstand me here.  There’s a difference between telling a spouse or friend or someone in your writing group what you’re working on, or thinking about, and going up to a successful author and trying to talk to them about your career plans.

At Bouchercon, my significant other had the experience of seeing one such person in action.  Brian was with Robert Ward, someone he’s known for quite some time.  A person came up to them, clearly wanting to talk to Bob, and wanted to know about how to get an agent.  So Bob asked him what he was planning to submit.  This is when the “er, ums” gave way to the revelation that the guy had an idea, but hadn’t written it.

And he’s going up to Robert Ward, of all people, to get advice.  Hell, I don’t get advice from Robert Ward.  With his impressive list of accomplishments I’d turn into a blabbering idiot trying to talk to him.  Talk about blowing a first impression and missing a real opportunity all in one.

And you know what the worst part of voicing your ideas is?  Until you’ve written the manuscript - and sometimes even after you’ve written it - you haven’t fleshed out the whole storyline.  An experienced author may be able to poke ten holes in your plot in under five seconds, and what will you do then?

There’s luck, and luck can help your career, but being an author and being a successful author is like marriage.  In the grand scheme of things, luck is like the butterflies when you were first smitten.  Work is 90% of the equation when it comes to making a marriage succeed, and it’s the hard work as a writer that you put in that puts you in a position to be lucky, if that’s what you want to call it.

Consider one of the most successful crime fiction authors of today.  Ian Rankin slaved over more than 10 books and was afraid of being dropped by his publisher.  And it wasn’t because they weren’t good books, well written.  He just hadn’t broken through.  And then he writes Black&Blue, wins the Gold Dagger and is catapulted to international success.

Other authors who’ve won the Gold Dagger haven’t seen the international accolades and deals follow, but I doubt you’d see Ian shrugging it off as total luck.  After all, he wrote more than ten published books.  He didn’t sell his soul and gain instant success.  He spent a lot of years working hard at writing to get to the point where he achieved that level of success.

The idea that success as a writer is strictly down to luck is the equivalent of thinking that a barefoot high school dropout will be walking along a dusty, dirt road in northern Saskatchewan and a car will pull over to the side of the road, a man will get out, ask the teen a few questions, and appoint him CEO of NBC.

There are no guarantees in life.  I’ve been interviewed for jobs that people with less experience got, and I’ve also interviewed people and hired one person instead of another, even when the person missing out on the job had an exceptional level of experience and training.  As I said, no guarantees about anything.

And we may work hard as writers and never achieve the level of success we might like, but if you rely on luck alone, you’re a lot less likely to become a world-famous author.

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