Living a Writing Life This New Year
December 8, 2009
I’m sure by now, I have a lot of people thinking, wow, those are big goals, and they are. I can admit that. However, I have to back up a bit.
Why should we worry about the new year? Why would we worry about our writing in terms of publishing a better blog?
Themes are important to your living a writing life, so it is important that you can improve sooner as opposed to later when things are harder to do. It’s not easy being a writer, and it can be harder when you have to deal with the best in the business. That being said, living a writing life this year means that you need to look at what the best in the business are doing and that you are not.
Admit it, most of the time we want to make money with writing, but we haven’t the faintest clue what makes our writing better than the best. Often, the truth is painful. If we we actually close to being the best the numbers would show it. I like looking at Google Analytics, because you can’t change the numbers there no matter how hard you try.
If the intent is to build a better business, now is the time to start. Make this a new year. In fact, you don’t have to wait for the calendar year to begin. Do something small now.
For me there are two things I want:
To make this blog bigger and better, and have some guest bloggers on it, from various fields, such as publishing, editing, self-publishing, and blogging. As much as this sound like a big goal it isn’t as hard as you could imagine. I simply need to ask around. I want this blog to be better in terms of editing, and I want have people tell me when it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t work now, it needs to work later, and improving to become a world class blog is a step at a time process.
I also want the books I’m writing published in the near future, but I am more determined to look at them and give them the time that they need to see success. I have to define that success, be it selling a lot of books, or working with a writing partner to get a better idea of how and what can work as a business.
I’m sure by now, I have a lot of people thinking, wow, those are big goals, and they are. I can admit that. However, I have to back up a bit.
These larger goals of publishing and writing can, and should be broken down. I need money now– but I also want to have a long lasting chance to keep making money.
That is what living a writing life is about- the art and process of writing and committing to a life of writing. It’s the commitment to building a better writing career. It also means that as a writer, I can’t simply think that my writing is good I have to go out and build it. That is the beauty of a new year.
2 Comments
JS
Three themes:
1. How to socialize on web and why?
2. How scribes can find a body for their journalistic spirits?
3. Is it worth being so busy to not even reply messages/mails of friends?
Al
Many and varied,
but with at least one emphasis on self publishing