Stephen
King once wrote, in regards to writing, “the scariest moment is always just
before you start.” As a writer, I know exactly what he meant. The moment just
before putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard is absolutely
terrifying. That may, at first, seem ridiculous, but it really does make a kind
of sense. That moment, that small moment, is the last chance of the writer to
turn back, to keep the story locked inside and away from the criticisms of
others.
But,
sometimes, it doesn’t matter how terrified you are of starting. Sometimes, the
story just has to be told, and you really have no choice but to get it all out.
Sometimes, there’s some kind of motivating factor that you just can’t argue
with.
The
knowledge that your grade is depending on it is a pretty great motivating
factor.
When
I started writing What Lurks Within,
it wasn’t with the intention of ever publishing it in any way, shape, or form.
I was in high school, and my Sophomore Composition class had been assigned to
write a short story. For me, it was the best homework ever. I talked to my
teacher as soon as I’d started outlining my story, knowing that it was going to
be far longer than the page requirement she had set – and that I was going to
need more than a few days to write it. After being granted a two week
extension, I started writing a rather lengthy short story that I dubbed “The
Whisperers.” I wrote like crazy, the knowledge that a considerable portion of
my grade was depending on me handing in a finished story negating my fear of
criticism. Eventually, I typed the last period, did a little editing, and
printed it off. My teacher loved it, and the pressure was off.
“The
Whisperers” sat on my flash drive – completely ignored – for the next three
years. Then, as I was sorting through my files one day, I rediscovered it.
After skimming over the first few paragraphs, I realized that I was more fond
of the story than I remembered.
Editing
began that night.
It
took me about a week, but I finally worked my way through the entire thing,
correcting typos and grammatical errors that I had missed the first time,
fixing sections that I no longer liked, expanding on pieces that I didn’t
have time to fully acknowledge under a deadline.
That
was when I discovered what the second hardest part of writing is – getting
published.
While
I wanted more than anything to be published in print, I decided to try
something else first – self-publishing digitally.
I
looked into it, and, while there are a number of different options – decided to
publish through Amazon’s Kindle store. From there, the process was pretty
simple. Since I already had an Amazon account, step one was done. From there,
it was just a matter of following the steps that Amazon has spelled out pretty
simply. I entered my book information and set the search keywords for it. I
uploaded my cover art and the digital copy of my novella. The final step was
setting the price of my story and deciding on royalties. After I had all of my
information entered, all I had to do was wait, first for my novella to be
cleared for posting, and then for the first purchase notification. Out of the
whole process of self-publication, the waiting part was the most difficult. The
way that Amazon has their system of self-publication set up makes the process extremely
simple, quick and painless.
So,
for everyone who wants to write, to tell a story, but are too afraid that they
can’t get published, no worries; if you’re okay with self-publishing online,
Kindle makes the whole concept way less terrifying.
So,
in the grand scheme of things, the scariest moment is still just before you
start.
 |
| Courtney Dekanich, a college sophomore, is currently pursuing a degree in English at Silver Lake College. She lives with her family. What Lurks Within is her first novella. |
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