What does it take?

"If I could I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results." Emily Brontë. How would she view the cyber arena of writing?

Word count: 374   Reading time 1-2 minutes

The internet has moved the goalposts for 21^st century writers. Now, among other things, we are now supposed to:

• Read a lot.
• Write a lot.
• Write a mission statement.
• Join a writers’ group (for fellowship)
• Join a critique group (for feedback).
• Take courses.
• Join a book club. At least one.
• Attend writing conferences and festivals.
• Build a platform, a brand: blog, tweet, join facebook, LinkedIn, read other blogs, comment on other blogs.  
• Build a professional bio.
• Be camera friendly.
• Pitch books in live situations or, at the very least, start the bruising process of querying agents and publishers.

After the book deal:

• Teach or mentor other writers.
• Organize a book launch.
• Organize appearances and book signings.
• Visit booksellers and book buyers.
• Organize a book tour.
• Start again at the top of the list.

While these suggestions only scrape the surface of the recommendations I’ve found, this list, even in its pared-down form, triggers a breathless claustrophobia in me. It doesn’t seem to leave a lot of room for the two essentials of writing and reading. What are the choices? Few, as far as I can tell, so I pick and choose the things that I hope will build a robust writing career.

Still, that list makes me wonder how the 20^th Century’s five most reclusive writers would fare if they were to publish their books today. Georgette Heyer, who sold her first book at age 17 and wrote 55 more over the next 50 years, granted only one interview in her entire life. Would she have flopped in the cyber age?

In the end, as interesting as it to compare the current writing world to days gone by, it’s best not to spend too much time thinking about it. As L.P. Hartley said, “The past is a foreign place. They do things differently there.”

What are you doing to build your writing career? Are all these things simply too much for one person? How do you choose and what do you choose?

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Photo from Wikimedia commons, Dan English

Comments

[Allison]

What a great blog. The steps to becoming a writer seem overwhelming sometimes. For now, I try not to think of them. My main goal is to get through the first draft. Maybe then I can attack the list. It does make me wonder how many good writers there are who have given up. Maybe a pair of good horse blinders is the best for a new writer, until the first draft is complete.

[Maggie Bolitho]

Yes! Horse blinders are the ideal solution!

Lots of successful writers do only a fraction of these things – as I have to remind myself every time I see a new blog saying a writer must/should/always do this or that. Cyber space can be awfully bullying without even trying.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that some good writers have given up, just like it’s possible to meet people who are talented singers, musicians and artists who no longer strive for commercial validation.

I like to hope that the concept of Deliberate Practice that Daphne Gray-Grant wrote about on September 18, 2012 will prevail (from her newsletter #343):

The concept of Deliberate Practice was identified by K. Anders Ericsson, a professor of Psychology at Florida State University. If you've read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, or Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer you will have already encountered Deliberate Practice. Basically, it holds the following tenets:

• Lack of natural ability is never an adequate excuse.
• Hard work is more important to success than talent.
• The hard work is vastly time consuming (requiring 10,000 hours according to Gladwell).
• The type of work you do is even more important than the volume of it.
• Your work must explicitly address your own weaknesses and deficiencies.
• Your work must have clear objectives and goals.
• You are far more likely to succeed with a coach, teacher or mentor.
• You must be highly motivated.
• The work is hard and tiring.