...to want to write a book and to hope that I might get published?

[Hedgehead]

I want to write classic fiction. I have a plot, I read a lot and always have, I know my audience and I have studied blogs and books about how to write fiction. I have a plan - it's a project. I can see it might take years of further research, drafting, re-drafting, realising I'm crap, going back to the drawing board, perhaps a course here and there before my fiction even gets noticed.

But something inside me feels very cynical about it all and like it will not work out. For eg, many kids/young people I meet want to be singers/dancers/actors/footballers because the X-Factor and reality TV has become so widespread. I know that is not a realistic aspiration for them - but part of me feels I am a hypocrite for jumping on what probably is an unrealistic aspiration for me!

Considering the state of the publishing industry, the fact that getting an agent is mostly driven by your social media following, blogging etc, and I have no idea about that (I can see how it works for non-fiction - but how do you blog about fiction?)

I am cynical that all you have to do is "follow your passion" to "live your dream," whatever that is. I don't feel that the world actually works like that - and I feel I'm being disingenuous and a total cliché to even imagine it might be a possibility for me.

What are your views on the aspiration of writing a book in this day and age?

I'm almost done with a novel, have an agent at one of the big agencies, and yet, I remain unpublished (this is my second novel; the first failed to sell to any of the big publishing houses or indies).

It's a brutal business. As long as you're a bit of a sadist, you'll fit right in with the rest of us

While I'd love to see my stuff in shops I think I'm happy as long as I know it's being read and enjoyed somewhere, so I've just opened a Wattpad account and posted / tweeted a short story on that, and I'll see how it goes from there. I've got the first and last chapters of my novel but it's a definite work in progress!

Write and enter competitions too along the way?

You only need to have a few chapters and outline for a competition and by entering you will be editing those first chapter over and over.

Do it and in a couple of years please report back! There was a thread about this a while back with some good tips on. Will try to find it

Everyone's said it all already. But heck I'll add to it anyway.

Every writer has doubts. But writing doesn't cost, and it's fun (apart from when you're slogging through the mid-section).

The chances of being picked up by an agent and traditional publisher is small - but it hasn't really changed. If your writing is good enough and you have a bit of luck, then you're in with a decent chance.

The nice thing about writing is that a social media profile or reality TV shows or whatever aren't essential. The words are the only thing that matter. So of course you can do it - you just have to get the words down.

The thing to bear in mind is that you get better with practice and don't get too attached to your first book. You might well sell it - or it might be your third or even your seventh. If you get a bunch of rejections it doesn't mean the dream is over or you should revise the same thing to infinity. Start a new project and the excitement begins all over again.

I'm not published and I've been writing fiction on and off for over ten years. But I am about to complete my fourth full manuscript and I honestly believe it's the best work I've done. Tbh I enjoy it so much I will keep going regardless.

Good luck!

I work with a woman who had two books published in 2012; the first was 'just' an ebook, but the second was also put in print and we could go to the book shop down the street and buy it. She was chuffed to bits when that happened, but soon after that she got her royalties check. It was not impressive. She said to me, "Pick a figure you'd think reasonable, half it, then quarter it. That's still way more than what I got". After that she lost interest; not because of the money, but after all the promotion on her blog and social media (never mind writing the books!) there was just very little in the way of recognition for all her hard work.

She was also obsessed with Amazon rankings. I think if you don't have other things going on it can really take over your life.

If you want to write a book to accomplish, eh, writing a book, go for it. If your goal is to support yourself by writing or you think this is the key to a new, stress free lifestyle I'd think again.