“The hard work began with the acceptance that it will never end.”
After an over confident start became a trap, author Peter Humphreys found his way back to his craft with debut novel, Hong Kong Rocks.
As a young writer, I fell into a trap from which I was reluctant to escape: I was told I was good and relaxed, far too much. Having won an in-house award for up-and-coming novelists while studying for my MA in Creative Writing and been recommended to agents and publishers, I took these things for granted – unaware how precious such introductions are in the real world I was yet to inhabit.
It took me a long time to realise that my arrogance in dealing with the opportunities I’d been given had stunted my progress as a writer. Finishing my first book, I casually exaggerated the word count when in discussions with a prospective agent; their concerns about having a commercially proportioned novel on their hands meant little to me. I was an artist. I was the next big thing. Deal with it. More to the point, get me a deal.
How embarrassing. The hi-fi I bought with my university prize money is still going strong today. It took me a few years to realise that despite the fanfare, that hi-fi represented all the money I’d ever made out of writing. Yes, I still wrote, but indulgently, and under the misguided impression that I was something special rather than someone who’d been identified as having potential, like many thousands of others.
Tentatively, tenderly (every writer requiring plenty of self-love, to balance out the debilitating doubts) I realised my mistake and broke it to my ego. I started editing professionally. I edited anthologies of stories in which the inclusion of my own work had to be challenged at every stage. I critiqued and supported other writers and it felt good. I was critiqued by other writers and was supported and it felt humbling. I learned from them and learned to edit.
Then the hard work began with the acceptance that it will never end. I’d been fortunate enough to have a few short stories published, but I‘d also written four novels, none of which had been taken up by agents or publishers. A novel-writing competition came up in Hong Kong. I was living there and the book I was writing was set in the city and on its numerous outlying islands. I had a shot. But it was an international competition, attracting hundreds of entries each year. I’d backed myself into a corner. Time was ticking by and I was no longer young. I had to write ABSOLUTELY THE BEST THING I’D EVER WRITTEN to be in with a chance. Then edit it. Then edit it again. So that’s what I did. It wasn’t easy. No one cared. Why would they? Hong Kong Rocks was a finalist for the prize. It didn’t win. I didn’t get a new hi-fi (as I say, I don’t need one) but crucially, the publishers who ran the prize decided to publish the book anyway.
The thrill of being published is tempered by the search for readers – and that elusive agent. There is no end to the challenges of being a writer, but that’s fine by me. Do I think my debut novel is ABSOLUTELY THE BEST THING I’LL EVER WRITE? Of course not, that’s the next thing, and the thing after that. My advice to other writers would be to lose that sheen of coolness, if you have it. Writing is a job, a craft to be learned yet never mastered. If you’re writing you have my respect whether you’re starting in your middle years or a hipster telling your friends you’re the next big thing. It’s just that these days I’d rather have a drink with the former than the latter.
Peter Humphreys is the author of five novels, including Hong Kong Rocks, a Proverse Prize finalist, and The Blaggard, winner of the Dawson Jackson Prize at Manchester Metropolitan University. His radio play Amateurs was long-listed for the BBC’s Alfred Bradley award and his short stories have been published by Comma Press, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and Far Enough East. He blogs under the moniker The Word Diver and shares stories and images on Instagram using the same alias.
Having trouble starting, sticking with or completing a writing project? Meet your Creative Gremlins! Seven Creative Gremlins is the perfect travel companion for any writer embarking on a creative journey. With wit and hard-won wisdom, published author Nicola Jackson and creativity coach Teresa Wilson explain how these Creative Gremlins are the cause of writers’ doubts, fears and stalling strategies – and (most importantly) offer you the tools to help you get past them in order to achieve your writing dreams.
Pick up your copy today for just £1.99 ebook/£6.99 pback
Author Peter Humphreys and the stop start nature of becoming Unstoppable