Thoughts on the writing life

To preface this, let me say that (despite generally disliking some labels because I feel that they don’t always explain the intricacy of what someone or something is) I consider myself a writer–and I write/have written fiction, poetry, screenplays, non-fiction, the experimental, and anything else that I can think of. However, fiction has always been in the forefront of my life and right now my focus is on that, and this blog entry is primarily about that aspect I feel I may have been neglecting in the past few months. I need to write, but since my book came out, I’ve been marketing, networking, and freelancing to earn money to help the cause of promoting my book, not to mention dealing with day-to-day annoyances and obligations that complicate life in general. In trying to balance everything, I’ve felt alternately drained and energized. I’m grateful for so much and am not at all complaining, but this entry is, I guess, to help me–and perhaps others that are going through similar things–to focus on other work that needs to be done as well.

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The writing life over the years has changed. Even though the act itself is still solitary and, among other things, about the expression of the author and the communication of the characters/stories being created, there are more and more groups out there that cater to various aspects of writing life. The Internet makes it possible for artists from all over the world to critique work and get to know one another, to a certain extent, without leaving the comfort of their own homes. We can make friends and contacts that lead us to freelance jobs and other beneficial opportunities. With a click of a button, the poem, story, or article that was written just minutes ago can find an international audience in just a few seconds. While this is all wonderful and exciting, it, too, can have drawbacks. Sometimes (and I’ve been guilty of this myself more times than I’d like to admit) writers spend so much time on Internet blogging, networking, and writing sites that they neglect their real writing – the novel they’ve been meaning to finish, or that collection they were going to put together.

It’s important to not lose focus of that goal. Again, I’m writing this mostly as a reminder to myself, but I think it can be helpful for others reading to think about this as well. Even when a goal changes–concentrating on a story instead of a novel, etc.–the focus needs to remain strong. A 1000 words a day on a blog, or in writing cover letters, etc., doesn’t count when it comes to writing 1000 words (or more) of fiction a day, does it? And, for me, neither does a few scribbled words of non-business writing. Writers of fiction should remember that writing fiction is one of the primary goals; no matter how bad they think the text is, they need to go easy on themselves and remember that the end product is only a first draft. They have time to go back and revise what doesn’t work. Writing any kind of fiction is thrilling for those of us that love it, but it is also hard work that has to be done. And, I believe, anyone that can’t deal with that basic truth can not truly be a writer. It may be harsh, but write we must.

For those that are freelancers as well, this in itself can be a challenge. We have deadlines to meet, clients to make happy, bills to pay, records to keep–all on our own time. There’s no 9 -5 that we can use as an “excuse” for not getting our other writing done, and no free time at a job with access to a computer that we can use to pump out a page or two a day and still get paid. Then there’s marketing and networking, beating the pavement to make sure that we’ve crossed our t’s and dotted our i’s. All of it can be so emotionally, mentally, and physically draining, so much so that our other writing can suffer.

I know for myself, even before my book came out, I spent a lot of time doing marketing research; even now that process continues. The post office is almost a second home for me, and some weeks I’ve spent more time sending out my press kit and contacting potential reviewers, etc., than I have writing fiction.

But I try to remind myself that I need to reorganize; all of these things–writing, marketing, networking, freelancing–are high priority, but in the end, I am a fiction writer also and if I don’t reserve enough energy for the stories that I enjoy creating, then all the marketing and networking in the world isn’t going to help because I will have no fiction to show for it. Plenty of articles, interviews, etc. that I’ve written and conducted–while that’s great and helpful it’s not enough.

So I encourage myself, and others that may be experiencing the same drain and conflicts, to save enough energy for creating the characters and stories that move us. They deserve as much, if not more, attention as the other aspects of our [writing] life.

Gather ’round

Take a look at writer Eric D. Goodman’s profile on gather.com. He just joined a week ago and already he’s a featured author. You can find out more about him at Writeful.

What are you willing to pay for?

I had specific reasons for using iUniverse to publish my first book, a collection of short stories. For one, I didn’t want to go through a traditional publisher the first time out. Some may say that going POD is a bad idea. However, after doing much research into the issue, I felt self-publishing/POD was a good road for me to take. The learning process is enormously helpful; I’ve learned things about publishing and marketing that I feel I may not have if I went the traditional route. I had a degree of creative control and the editorial evaluation was surprisingly in-depth. Another thing I like about iUniverse is that, several months after my book has come out, I am still in contact with them on a regular basis, and I have a marketing supervisor that has patiently answered my questions and given help on various marketing issues. This is something I didn’t expect, and it comes as a surprise to many people that a Print-On-Demand publisher would be so helpful without requiring more money. Maybe it’s because Susan Driscoll, CEO of iUniverse, has over 20 years of publishing experience. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t be happier with the results.

But with a large number of authors willing to pay to publish their own books, many with good reasons, a crop of other companies out there feel that they can take advantage of us. After all, they seem to say, if we’re willing to pay to get our books out there, what else are we willing to pay for? For instance, sites that once reviewed books for free are now charging $50 to $100 or more. I have not paid for any reviews, and while it is sometimes tempting, the idea has always left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s not necessarily that all of these companies are fraudulent (some probably are) or that book reviewers that don’t charge are better or don’t have ulterior motives (some really aren’t and do), but I just don’t see the reason why a reviewer that has covered books for free, sometimes for years, suddenly wants to charge a fee for self-published or POD published authors. Some of these review sites have a double-standard; they’re willing to read traditionally published books for free, books that may be no better or in some cases worse than self-published books, while the latter has to fork over a chunk of their income. And for what? Paying for a review doesn’t give you any control over the quality, length, or opinion presented. And if paying means that you get a favorable review, why would you really want it? In some rare cases the cost is said to “expedite” the review, but if every author that wants a one within a few weeks pays, what are the chances the reviewer will actually be able to read them all within the alloted time? So far, I don’t see enough benefit to pay for that. If the book isn’t good enough for any reader to actually want to read and review it, the author would probably be better off going back to the drawing board, so to speak.

There are other services that companies try to get authors to pay for as well. I keep receiving unrequested information (spam) from some company that I didn’t seek out and I know very little about. But the fact that they keep soliciting me to pay $250 for the service of “featuring” my book, etc., leads me to believe they’re a scam in the making. It’s one thing to advertise your services with ads and the like—it’s a necessity of getting your product noticed—but why hound people that you’ve had no contact with whatsoever? I can think of one reason.

Then there’s paying for being on the radio, or on a podcast. Now, this is a bit more tempting to me, but it still raises some questions. Radio shows need content to get listeners, and authors need a way to make a large number of readers aware of their work. But radio shows, like television, get their money from advertisers. So why would they want to have authors pay to be interviewed? Maybe this makes sense to some out there, and while I’m willing to keep an open mind on the idea, I’m not convinced. From what I’ve learned so far, a paid radio interview is vastly different from a regular one. It ends up being more of an advertisement than an actual interview.

In the end, it may just come down to what you’re willing to pay for and why.