You sound a little bit down, Katerina, and maybe that is making you feel things are impossible. It is possible to do these things. There must be public transport from where you are. There are loads of organisations on the internet for a start - I found out about the festival from The Scottish Book Trust site and it was open to the general public, not invitation by people in the know. I'd advise you start exploring online first and find all the organisations, local and national, that are of interest that you could keep checking for events and opportunities. I don't know many writers either but I took a couple of supportive friends along with me instead and they really enjoyed it. Maybe you could go along to the odd festival/events with a friend? Or people from your writing group on WW? The arts council sites can be very useful too and have opportunities, news and events on them. None of these things can guarantee your book will be published, but they can give you information and, apart from anything, can be fun.

What about trying to start a writer's group in your area - that might be a way to meet people who are interested in writing.

Snowbell, I was on a panel with Chris Cleave and Carole Cadwalldr, reading and answering questions. But I stayed for a couple of the talks afterwards. I sat in the audience and listened to people getting advice from all kinds of representatives from the profession. Whatever was asked seemed to be answered candidly and constructively.

OK, Katerina. Let me have a think.

"There are no reading/writing groups in my area" - could you look into setting one up? Asking at the library, for instance? - "and certainly no talks by authors." - Again, worth asking your local bookshop? I know it's not like you can wave a magic wand, but it's just a thought.

"I live in a little seaside town, where nothing happens, it's very boring, mundane and ordinary." - Can't be more ordinary than Whitchurch, Town of Cheese (yes, really, that is our USP). Until we got our independent bookshop last year, we never had author events here.

"I'm not from the area where I live, and the odd couple of friends I do have, are not writers, and don't know anyone in the business either." - This was me when I first started writing. I made my contacts through entering comps, mostly, and going on courses (residential, but I could equally have signed up for an online one). Although I drive, I hate it and am a very unconfident driver so I go by public transport wherever I can. (I claim this is for environmental reasons but really it's fear of motorways.)

"So, I really am alone in this" - but, firstly, you're not, because you have WW and all the connections and support and insider tips this site provides. The internet's a fantastic resource. There are author sites where you're positively encouraged to ask questions, and blogs like Susan Hill's. You can build up a network of virtual contacts even without being on a writer's forum.

And secondly, who's to say that working alone isn't better anyway? Sometimes writing groups are great but they're not for everybody and there are times when they can do more harm than good. A lot of people - me, for instance - have enjoyed the journey to becoming a writer precisely because it was a private experience.

You do sound down. Have a cup of tea and a biscuit and get your blood sugar up. :-)

Lammi, in response to: "Although I drive, I hate it and am a very unconfident driver so I go by public transport wherever I can. (I claim this is for environmental reasons but really it's fear of motorways.)" My word, that could have been written by me! There's something about British roads that scares the hell out of me. I never had a problem driving on holidays abroad, but here for some reason I always feel like I'm on the wrong side of the road. Perhaps in a past life I was from the US...

Katerina, it's so easy to feel disheartened in this business but keep your spirits up if you can. I also live in a small town where nothing much happens (except binge-drinking and surfing) and for a while I felt that it would be impossible to succeed at this. Then I realised that my dream was not 'to be published' but rather 'to write books.' The publication bit is to a large extent out of our hands. All we can do is write books we love and hope they're good enough.

Katerina - the advice above is very good and I do hope you feel able to try it out. Other thoughts are - when I first started writing (and admitting to it - sort of ...), I joined a local Adult Education poetry class, which was really useful in terms of meeting like-minded people who all thought they were on their own. Yes, it took all my courage even to get to Class 1, and I think I said one sentence only that night (yes, hard for some of you to appreciate, but bear with me ...), but it's made all the difference to how I feel about what I write.

I know the AE system is struggling right now, but are there classes round you? Even if they might not be in the genre you want, it's still a class full of nervous writers, which can be really encouraging! And don't forget your colleges/universities (if you have any nearby) as they also might run creative writing classes (our local university does, and they're very popular).

Another way in might be via reading groups too - some of those who attend are likely to write, and you could ask around and see if you can form a group from there? And don't forget the power of the local shop - my last poetry group was entirely formed by people who picked up my hand-made flyer in the local bookshop, and we still keep in touch!

The upshot of what I'm trying to say is please don't feel alone, even if you live in an isolated place. But, most of all, if you do feel down (as you may do, though I appreciate it's hard to tell from email), don't be afraid to ask for help - and I speak as one who likes to keep our on-site work counsellor busy! (Goodness me, without me in the office, the poor girl would probably be doing her nails all day, so I like to think that at least I'm keeping someone in a job!!..). Yes, what a very modern office we are indeed.

Take care

A
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<Added>

Yes, LisaC is absolutely spot-on - it's the writing that counts. It's the thing that makes us tick and shows us who we are. Anything else, when you really get to the depths of it, is window-dressing. So, whatever you do, keep writing.

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Lammi's right - you already have contacts through WW. The site experts are just the sort of people you might be hovering about too shy to talk to at an event, and here they are ready to advise and help and talk to you, which is amazing.

And you are doing the important thing already - writing. After all, writing is something you can do anywhere. It would be a lot harder if you wanted to be an actor or something that required theatres audiences nearby.

But I would say if you are writing in an isolated area, it could get a bit lonely so meeting like-minded people and going to things may be worth it just to interact and make it feel more real. I think HollyB's suggestion is a great one - reading groups. I never thought of that. And evening classes are a good way to meet people. It is fun, interactive and although everyone wont be helpful, even if you meet one person who's comments you respect that's invaluable and you could set up a group with them.

Aww, thanks everyone.

You've given me a few things to think about. No, I'm not down, but considering where I live and my lack of contacts and events, I was just thinking in practical terms, facing reality I suppose, and wondering if it was worth all the effort to continue with the book.

I will continue, because it will be an achievement for me to finally write - 'The End'. Ultimately, I am doing it for myself, even if it does end up in a drawer.

Funnily, my novel is centered around a bookshop and reading group. I might contact our local - very small, libraray, and see about starting up a writers group.

We only have one small booskshop, which is a stationers as well, and doesn't have a wide range of books, so they won't be having any meetings or talks by authors. There's nowhere to seat them for a start - really the place is very small and narrow. But The library might be a good start.

Thanks again.

Katerina

Go for it, Katerina - you could start a trend in your area!

)

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Katerina,

I live just outside Edinburgh and I hadn't heard of this Festival before. I have no writer friends either or contacts (although I know a few famous people but none of them writers). If you want to come up next year and go to the festival you can stay with me and we can go together. I wouldn't have anyone to go with either and it might be fun. I know where it is and I know my way around town.

Anyway, something to think about since it's a long way off but that might be a plan to head towards with your book - having it ready by then.

Eve.

Katerina, it can seem so daunting, I know. But you aren't alone, truly you aren't. Everyone's come up with some great suggestions, so I hope some of them work out. There is a national association of writers circles, by the way - there may be one already, nearer than you think. Librarians are usually thrilled to try to help with this kind of thing too - makes a change from shelving books - even if the place looks small. And yes, WW is here, and we don't only have to operate in cyberspace - look at the group who are getting together in Leeds. If you can get get hold of MsLexia, they have very good listings (though an irritating mag in some ways), and you may again find that there's more, nearer, than you think. Or for a one-off, if you do find yourself somewhere else for a weekend, how about finding out if there's anything going on there - readings or what have you? Even a single evening can be really inspiring, and/or get you to meet some like-minded people in the same boat as yourself.

Emma

There's alot of talk abut Marie Phillips at the moment, who has just secured a great deal with Cape, and whose debut novel, Gods Behaving Badly, is proving very popular at Frankfurt. She has no famous name etc etc etc. She got her deal by simply sending her manuscript to the editor at Cape, Dan Franklin. So it can be just that simple, if the novel is good enough. People are looking for quality writing, wherever it comes from.

I think that's really true. Agents and editors don't want to miss good work, and if they do miss it nonetheless, it's more because they're human than because they're not looking. If the work's good enough, it'll get there, and usually by the basic route of it being submitted to an agent, and read.

And besides, our sense of what it takes to get published is badly skewed by how the media relate the stories. Even if you ignore the celebrities whose celebrity comes first and the book contract afterwards, authors who aren't celebrities still have to present the story of how-they-got-here in bite-sized portions. The facts get streamlined to make a story. It's not that anyone's lying, it's just that it's very, very rarely a simple as that. Plus, since the publicity machine is terrified of anything that carries a whiff of what they'd call failure - though WWers would recognise it as the usual stony road of rejections and small successes - unless a huge rejection-record can get turned into a story in itself, those 'failures' get airbrushed out of the story quickest. When you actually talk to authors, virtually all of them followed a road that we would recognise, of small rejections and small successes, and the 'big break' may be a break, it may even be big, but nine times out of ten it's not just 'I wrote a story and sent it to my uncle's wife who published it'. It's 'I met another aspiring writer who had an agent who hadn't sold anything and she didn't agent my kind of thing but she read it anyway and suggested X, only that didn't work so I...'

It's like the way that the 'coming from nowhere' winner of Pop Idol/X Factor/Opera Idol/Whatever usually turns out to have been grafting away on the nursery slopes of the trade for years.

Emma

Quite. And to use Marie as an example again, she submitted her novel for the Long Barn 1st novel comp, it wasn't shortlisted, she blogs under the name 'struggling author' so I'm sure has had her fair share of rejections...and so on. Of course to say 'she just sent it to an editor' is over-simplifying it in a way. But in a way it isn't, as well, because it only takes that one person to like it...

The other point that I think is worth making is that connections are sometimes only made after publication - like I think you pointed out earlier - it's due to publicists presenting authors in a certain way. That can be misleading, as it implies a sort of in-club that it's impossible to break into. And although connections and names can get you read, they can work against you as well - preconceptions rarely do people any favours, in my opinion.

And I think Marie - good luck to her! - does have a fair amount of contacts in the trade, seeing as she works in the independent Crockatt and Powell bookshop in London (as the ampersand, she writes!...). I'm glad she's kept that title though, as she was very worried about losing it - though I gather Susan Hill was on her side, so that must have carried some weight!

Do I get the prize today for the most dropped names in an email? Ooh, I do hope so!!!

)

A
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