There’s a song by the band Blondie called “One Way or Another.” As a writer, I have some interesting takes on various song lyrics. If you read through these, you could assume the singer is stalking the subject of the song. When you listen to the song and its catchy beat and tune, it becomes a playful statement about finally starting a romantic relationship with the subject. The saying “one way or another” outside the song usually means a daunting task will get done somehow. Like writing a book – right? I’ll get it done – one way or another.
There’s also a saying, “if it’s not one thing, it’s another!” This one comes with nothing but frustration. I relate this to my writing and self-publishing as I find every new little thing that needs to be done when publishing all on my own. It’s more than just writing and finishing the story:
– Writing. For Midnight Splash, I’ve been writing it on and off since 2011. My professional writing career came first, and my fiction was just a hobby at the time.
– Editing. With the on again-off again writing of Midnight Splash, I ended up doing some editing each time I came back to it, if only because I had to re-read it to get myself back into the story again. When I picked it up seriously last year, it took all my strength to not edit while I wrote. When I wrote “THE END” I had to make a conscious effort to set it aside for a while so I could come back with fresh eyes for editing.
– Beta reading was something I thought I could skip. I’d been working on the story for so long, and refined it each time I came back to it that I thought I could skip this step. Until I decided to try it. These people have helped make Midnight Splash what it is. This was a very “one thing or another” moment for me.
– Making changes is difficult. I thought everything was good to go and I was ready to send it to my editor. But the good advice my beta readers gave showed me there were still changes to be made. I focused on the changes, implementing and adding, and trying to figure out how those changes caused other changes. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another!”
– Editing again is the epitome of “if it’s one thing, it’s another!” Why am I editing yet again?! I thought I was done with this! But this next edit is tightening everything up to the point I can’t see anything that needs to be changed.
– Finally send it to an editor and find out that there’s even more that can be changed! I’m simultaneously looking forward to and dreading a professional edit. While I’ve professionally edited a couple of non-fiction books, fiction editing is so much more difficult. I’ll be glad to have not just fresh, but someone else’s eyes on my manuscript helping me out.
– Get those edits back to apply them. Once I get these, I plan to be as much of a robot as possible. Find, apply, move on. Don’t try to revamp everything around it.
– and on and on – I’m sure there’s so much more that I’ll continue to find out as I move forward in this self-publishing adventure.
Then there’s also: the ‘front’ and ‘back’ matter like a dedication, the information like copyright and ISBN information, and more. These aren’t as daunting as I thought they’d be, but when someone mentioned them during a seminar, I realized that was just information to gloss over and take for granted. I didn’t realize that I was the one who had to include all that information!
When it comes to my son’s last year of high school, “if it’s not one thing, it’s another” applies to things like end-of-the-year fees, filling out information like the name to appear on his diploma, working with his activities schedules, and the big decision: where to go to college (and everything that goes into that!)
When it comes to life, for many, it’s frustrations like car problems, a broken major appliance like an oven or washing machine, or a ‘surprise’ school project your child neglected to tell you about.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another!
What is your best ‘if it’s not one thing, it’s another!’ story? Let’s talk on Facebook!