Just joking MFLers!
Made you look though didn't I?
Authors, that is called tickling the buying bone. Memorize it for your book descriptions. It works...
Kidding aside, I sort of had this weird rash of PMs and e-mails from people the past few days both here and elsewhere. I am on a severe word count high right now and I have at least six hours to go so bear with me. By my math, that looks like about 3 a.m. my time.
Yay writing!
Anyway, the e-mails/PMs are basically a variant of "Wow, this is really hard to do..." or "You must have a secret, what is it?"
Honestly, I can't tell if folks are suffering from an end of the month blues kind of thing or if it's just general writer's malaise but I thought I'd share some wisdom from those that have been down the path before us. I get that I am not a "traditional writer" and sometimes I think others might suppose I just make this up as I go.
I kind of do but there's plenty of successful entrepreneurs (right here on this forum I bet) that had *no clue* what they were doing when they got going. But, somehow, someway they made it work. I don't care what anyone says, the writing game is no different.
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble that thinks authors and writers are a special breed or somehow gifted or talented in a way that others aren't. Lots of them think they are but they aren't.
They are experts in assembling words on a page.
That's it.
It ain't magic. It is a skill and nothing more.
Anyway... the first of those statements above I can 100% relate to because it is hard to do. Look... I AM NOT A WRITER AND NEVER WANTED TO BE so you couldn't start at a more disadvantaged point than I was at when I began. But, the way I see it, every single business is really hard if you want to win at it.
The bottom line is that if you want to kill it in any pursuit, you have to be a killer.
Period.
I want it.
And, I am a stone cold word killer.
The latter... (the part about having a "secret") I'll be honest... is kind of insulting. And, not just to me, but I think to any author that has managed to carve out some success for themselves beyond the odd "one hit wonders".
Here's my "secret"...
I failed at every single business idea I tried for longer than I care to remember. Bad ideas, bad timing, bad execution... You name it, I've been there. But, when it comes to this, I simply applied the same work ethic I always have and so far, it has paid off.
Will that continue? I have no clue but I definitely don't see it as luck or some sort of secret. I have gone through tons of failure to get here. So, if that seems like "luck" to some folks, there's nothing I can do about that. I suppose if you call having to write 20+ novellas to get your first hit then yeah, I am lucky.
I guess...
Anyway, to buttress the point, I am reposting some wisdom from Russell Blake via another forum because it kind of seemed apropos to what we as writers go through. There is an awful lot of isolation for us, as is the case for almost every entrepreneurial pursuit, but I dunno with writing it just seems more intense that other stuff I've tried.
Maybe that's just me. *shrugs*
After that, stay tuned for some comedic relief as I offer my latest extremely lame setback for your amusement.
End of rant...
From Russell Blake (the author of 26 full length novels in 30 months)...
On his beginning...
On what it takes...
And now a comedic interlude from yours truly... :groove:
I was nearly done with my latest novella... I mean, only a couple thousand words shy. I was basically finished, you know?
I know you know. Those of you that write. 2K to go? I'm DONE yo!
:hammertime:
So I woke up this morning BRIMMING with confidence, go to my computer and guess what? My main workstation ($10,000K investment less than four months old, dead, fried, gonzo).
But, that's not even the real kicker. The true suckage is that my last backup was 8,000+ words ago since it appears as though my wireless modem died before everything else.
Guess what I am doing all weekend on my 2008 laptop???
NEVER surrender...
Made you look though didn't I?
Authors, that is called tickling the buying bone. Memorize it for your book descriptions. It works...
Kidding aside, I sort of had this weird rash of PMs and e-mails from people the past few days both here and elsewhere. I am on a severe word count high right now and I have at least six hours to go so bear with me. By my math, that looks like about 3 a.m. my time.
Yay writing!
Anyway, the e-mails/PMs are basically a variant of "Wow, this is really hard to do..." or "You must have a secret, what is it?"
Honestly, I can't tell if folks are suffering from an end of the month blues kind of thing or if it's just general writer's malaise but I thought I'd share some wisdom from those that have been down the path before us. I get that I am not a "traditional writer" and sometimes I think others might suppose I just make this up as I go.
I kind of do but there's plenty of successful entrepreneurs (right here on this forum I bet) that had *no clue* what they were doing when they got going. But, somehow, someway they made it work. I don't care what anyone says, the writing game is no different.
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble that thinks authors and writers are a special breed or somehow gifted or talented in a way that others aren't. Lots of them think they are but they aren't.
They are experts in assembling words on a page.
That's it.
It ain't magic. It is a skill and nothing more.
Anyway... the first of those statements above I can 100% relate to because it is hard to do. Look... I AM NOT A WRITER AND NEVER WANTED TO BE so you couldn't start at a more disadvantaged point than I was at when I began. But, the way I see it, every single business is really hard if you want to win at it.
The bottom line is that if you want to kill it in any pursuit, you have to be a killer.
Period.
I want it.
And, I am a stone cold word killer.
The latter... (the part about having a "secret") I'll be honest... is kind of insulting. And, not just to me, but I think to any author that has managed to carve out some success for themselves beyond the odd "one hit wonders".
Here's my "secret"...
I failed at every single business idea I tried for longer than I care to remember. Bad ideas, bad timing, bad execution... You name it, I've been there. But, when it comes to this, I simply applied the same work ethic I always have and so far, it has paid off.
Will that continue? I have no clue but I definitely don't see it as luck or some sort of secret. I have gone through tons of failure to get here. So, if that seems like "luck" to some folks, there's nothing I can do about that. I suppose if you call having to write 20+ novellas to get your first hit then yeah, I am lucky.
I guess...
Anyway, to buttress the point, I am reposting some wisdom from Russell Blake via another forum because it kind of seemed apropos to what we as writers go through. There is an awful lot of isolation for us, as is the case for almost every entrepreneurial pursuit, but I dunno with writing it just seems more intense that other stuff I've tried.
Maybe that's just me. *shrugs*
After that, stay tuned for some comedic relief as I offer my latest extremely lame setback for your amusement.
End of rant...
From Russell Blake (the author of 26 full length novels in 30 months)...
On his beginning...
For instance, I remember my second month in this business, I had already released Fatal Exchange, and had madly dashed off my writing parody, and was halfway through The Geronimo Breach. I think I made $28 month number two. Month number one, less than $20.
On what it takes...
If I believed that it should take a year to write a quality novel, or I should spend six months promoting the one I already had, I would have seen a different aspect of that same reality, and made different decisions.
Hey, every delusional person believes in the reality their perception informs them of, not reality as it is. Some would argue that being a little delusional helps if you're in the arts. I can't argue that too much, because you have to believe you stand a chance in the face of overwhelming odds.
But I also believe that any success I have, has to be earned through very long hours and massive effort, and by working extremely smart, in addition to very hard. That belief set me up to be excited to be able to invest the hours and money I did, rather than glum about it. Reality is this is extraordinarily hard to succeed at, and the odds say most of us won't. That's what the numbers tell us. But my belief was that by being an outlier - by working more hours, writing more books, trying to make them better than average, paying for pro help with skills I saw as a time suck or a distraction - I could improve my odds.
And now a comedic interlude from yours truly... :groove:
I was nearly done with my latest novella... I mean, only a couple thousand words shy. I was basically finished, you know?
I know you know. Those of you that write. 2K to go? I'm DONE yo!
:hammertime:
So I woke up this morning BRIMMING with confidence, go to my computer and guess what? My main workstation ($10,000K investment less than four months old, dead, fried, gonzo).
But, that's not even the real kicker. The true suckage is that my last backup was 8,000+ words ago since it appears as though my wireless modem died before everything else.
Guess what I am doing all weekend on my 2008 laptop???
NEVER surrender...
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