To Aspiring Authors and Other Insensible People

There are 1,001 reasons to hate writing. While it’s relatively easy to learn, it’s often incredibly difficult to master (something I have by no means achieved). With the advent of and easy access to online resources and audiences (via blogging *cough cough*, Twitter, etc.), the market is flooded with material. It takes time and effort and doesn’t always pay very well. Heck, I bet this isn’t even close to the first “Writers Writing About Writing” article on Blogger. There. You see? 1,001 reasons. So, why, might you ask, did I choose to open on this topic? Well...

- I couldn’t think of anything better to write about at the moment.

- I am vain enough to think I might have something new to offer on the subject.

- There’s the off chance that you missed all those other “Writers Writing About Writing” articles (in which case, just assume this is the only one).

- Oddly enough, writing is one of the easiest topics to write about.

- And because I can.

While there may be 1,001 reasons to avoid writing, there are about 1,000,001 to love it, and if you’re a writer or hope to be one someday, you’re probably already aware of those reasons. In light of that, I would like to offer some words of encouragement (for what they’re worth) to all you aspiring writers like me out there who happened to have glanced this way. “Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me.”

Heeeyyyyy, that’s a quote from Pursuit of Happyness! Yes, astute reader, it is. But it’s also true. At some point in your life, in your passionate pursuit of your dream career, in your manic quest to become a full-time, world-renowned writer, someone is going to say you can’t make a living as an author without a whole lot of good luck or a ghost writer. They will scoff at your loftiest ambitions and laugh in the face of your sincerest desires. It may even be someone you know, respect, and admire. But don’t ever let that deter you. Believe it or not, there really is a market for just about everything; you just have to be doggedly persistent in your search for where you fit in (yes, even the people who want to “stand out” fit in somewhere). Some of you may have to be a little more inventive in your search for an audience, but abandoning before you even get started is about the biggest disservice you can do yourself.

Now, you may or may not have already heard this speech (I know I have), but there’s a second part to that Will Smith quote that applies, and I don’t think most writers address it. Why? Because, well, it’s talking about us. Those three little words “Not even me” may be the three most important words in this article. As fellow writers, we often tend to think our personal advice should be given credence and authority over everyone else’s, at least in the realm of writing. And for good reason - we (usually) know our stuff, and some of us are even professionals. But I’m gonna come out and say we don’t know everything. Granted, I wouldn’t just automatically ignore every bit of advice that comes your way (*BIAS ALERT* especially this one!), because there are probably a whole slew of authors out there who genuinely want to see you grow in your abilities. However, please don’t ever let another author tear you down and tell you that your style doesn’t work, or your topics are too uncouth, or your voice isn’t worth listening to.

That is a mountain of crap. All of it.

Now, you may need to tweak your style if there’s a whole lot of unintentional spelling or syntax errors. You may need to hone your topics if they’re too scattered or, heaven forbid, contradictory (people don’t tend to take hypocrites all that seriously). And you may need to refine your voice if it’s getting lost amidst a sea of words (be they fancy, loud, or altogether unreadable). But all of that is meant to help purify your writing in the sense that it brings to the surface the best qualities you have to offer. Additionally, don’t feel obligated to take advice you don’t want to, because once you throw your work out to the public, not to mention the online public, you are bound to get a whole heap of feedback. Some of it will be crap. Some of it may rub you against the grain. It’s okay to ignore that stuff. We’re not going to be offended if you don’t take our advice. Just take the stuff that really strikes a chord and run with it. Take every opportunity to make your writing the best it can be. Always try to evolve and refine your skills. If I could offer one last piece of advice it would be this: Don’t let yourself become complacent in your writing, but don’t let the rest of us write your stuff for you by way of our critiques and comments and you-should-haves. Make your writing strongly and uniquely yours, and the rest is essentially fishing. You throw your material out into the vast ocean of the internet or potential publishers and wait for the hungry fish to swim along and take a nibble.