What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Being a Writer #10: Amy Jones

I was so happy to meet Amy Jones several years ago in Thunder Bay, and then again when our books were released in the same season, and we shared the stage at a few literary festivals. 

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you before you published your first book?

That you're never going to be satisfied, but that's okay because it's what keeps you moving forward. But there's no real endgame in writing. When I first started out I thought "all I want is to have a story published and I'll be happy." Then when I had a story published, I thought "all I want is to have a book published and I'll be happy." I was probably happy for about two seconds after my book came out before I started thinking about the next thing. I still wanted more.  I really thought having that book published was going to change my life, but I still had to really work for everything--publishing a book is not like joining this magical club where everything is unicorns and rainbows and book deals are falling from the sky. I mean, maybe it is for some people. But for most of us, our lives are pretty much the same. You're still you, just you with a book. 

And is there a piece of advice you always give to emerging writers? 

Write the story you want to write and not the story you think other people want to read. Readers are smart; they'll know if what you're writing is not from your heart. And if it's something difficult or controversial or uncomfortable, and you're worried that people will react negatively, well, yeah, they are probably going to. But that will happen no matter what you write, so you might as well write about what you care about.