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The Modern Author's MAIN Job

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By Jody Hedlund,@JodyHedlund

Long ago, in the dinosaur ages before the internet existed, writers could just write. If they wanted, they could hide away in a mountaintop cabin overlooking a lake and could focus on writing books for days and weeks. Except for the occasional book signing or speech at a local library, the old-fashioned writer didn't have to worry about much except writing great books.

But those were the good old days . . .

As you know (and have likely heard ad nauseam), the modern writer has to handle an incredible myriad of responsibilities including: editing for critique partners, judging contests, interacting with book groups, answering emails, staying abreast of industry news, interacting with fans via social media, enhancing professional relationships with other authors, keeping up with personal and group blogs, updating websites, providing endorsements, etc.

And the biggest time cruncher? Marketing our books. Authors can literally spend hours upon hours organizing blog tours, writing up interview questions or guest posts, planning Pinterest campaigns, giving away and mailing books, participating in Facebook chats, doing Q & A on Goodreads, etc., etc., etc.

With all the responsibilities that fall upon the modern author's shoulders, it's a wonder writers have any time left for actually writing their books!

In the past, the pendulum of a writer's job tipped in the direction of mostly all writing. And now in the present it has swung the opposite way, and many writers struggle to squeeze in any writing. As I've analyzed this pendulum shift, I've realized that perhaps the modern writer has gone TOO far the opposite direction.

Of course I've heard plenty of people say that self-published authors have no other choice but to spend just as much time marketing their books (if not more) than they do writing. And even traditionally published authors must scramble to find ways to get their books to stand out in an exceptionally crowded market.

But as great as social media is for marketing and for interacting, I've realized that the modern writer is really much better off shifting back to the middle of the pendulum (if not inching back the other way). Maybe we can't ever return to the all-writing world of the bygone days. But neither do we have to let our writing take a back seat to all the other responsibilities.

Whether we self-publish or go the traditional route, a fiction writer's MAIN job is WRITING BOOKS.

We often get caught up in all the online hype and begin to think that everything else will help us have success. But our BOOKS are what make us successful.

The more we write and the more we publish, the more chances readers will have to discover us. And when they love one book, they're more likely to go out and buy more of our books as well as tell others about us.

But that phenomenon can only happen when we're writing multiple books AND the stories are consistently good quality.

So my advice is for modern writers to stop piddling away time on all of those other responsibilities. Sure, we need to give them some time. But it can't be our best or greatest time.

For example, when I have a concentrated block of free time, I make myself use that time for working on my books and my books alone. I make it a priority to meet my daily word count goal before I do any of the other writing work. Blogging, emailing, responding to interviews ALL take the leftover miscellaneous time that I have here and there. I give my best time to my books.

The modern author's main job still is and always will be THE WRITING. Our stories will be the stepping stones to our future success. As we write and publish them one by one, we'll keep climbing higher and gaining new readers.

So what do you think? Do you think many modern writers have let the pendulum swing too far and are getting themselves too busy with all of the other writing responsibilities? What are some ways you strive to make your writing THE priority amidst all the other writing work that clamors for our attention?

21 comments:

  1. THANK YOU for this post. I've been saying for some time that writers need to write first... this from a self-published author who spends a pretty fair amount of time online and marketing. And the arguments I keep hearing (usually from unpublished authors) about going the trad-pub route, is that they "just want to write." Now, I don't care which route you pick, but you're going to be disabused of that notion that any writer can "just write" pretty soon after you're published, no matter how you do it. The only writers who "just write" are the unpublished - enjoy that time now! ;)

    At the same time, it is a choice how much time you spend on it, and the books will forever and always be what wins you fans and brings in the income so you can keep writing. Writing MORE books and writing BETTER books are the only two things that really, truly make a difference between writing being a hobby and a career.

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    1. Hi Susan, Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue. It's wonderful to hear from a successfully self-published author who knows what truly helps with success! I like how you break it down into 2 issues: writing MORE and writing BETTER. The two go hand in hand in building a readership!

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  2. I LOVE THIS POST!

    Not only is it absolutely true that it's books---and books alone---that make and keep a writer successful, but it's painfully true that wasting what precious little time we have dicking around on the internet under the pretense of marketing our book, instead of investing time into writing better and writing more, indicates a dangerous misunderstanding of what writing fiction is really about. (hint: the FICTION). And yes, most social media activities intended to market fiction are either spammy or plain dicking around with others so we can slip our link to Amazon in there somewhere.

    YES, I believe writers have let the pendulum get all tilted. Not only are we spending too much time with things that do little for our careers (not much ROI there), but our priorities and values have shifted too. It's no longer quality that we envy and try to outmatch in our peers, it's the number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends. Sad development if you ask me, and one that I actively try to prevent myself (and my friends) from falling into.

    THANK YOU for a powerful reminder.

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    1. Hi Veronica! I've seen too many writers get off track with getting "followers" on various social media sites too. They pour so much time and energy into accumulating those numbers, but don't realize that the numbers don't translate into sales beyond a dozen closer friends. As you said, our value should be attempting to outmatch other books in QUALITY and WRITING SKILL. Not in outmatching other writers in follower counts! :-)

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  3. You echo my thoughts exactly, Jody.

    I made the decision a few weeks ago to alter my blogging schedule--going from three days a week to two--and I couldn't be happier. It doesn't mean that I won't change my mind in the future, but for now, this is what works best for me. I have a social media presence, I enjoy being able to communicate in mediums I like, and best of all, I have extra time in my week to do what I need to do--write.

    Getting caught up in all the bells and whistles of social media, as well as our other responsibilities (only to put our precious writing on the backburner) is a trap we can too easily fall into. And prior to being published, it can be deadly.

    Thanks for addressing another important issue!

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    1. Hi Cythia, So glad to hear that you've reached a happy medium in writing and social media output. It's all too easy to get sucked into the social media vortex and let it take up our best time. I'm learning to resist the pull. Our success will come with quality books time and time again! :-)

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  4. I still keep holding on to the ideal that I can somehow make this call to writing work without most of those distractions. I can see how easy it is to give in and start trying to make someone - anyone - hear your voice in the crowd.

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    1. Don't lose hold of that ideal, Miranda! Of course we need to have a place online where we can keep a visible presence. But if we're writing quality books, novellas, eshorts, etc., then we'll slowly but steadily gain readers, especially if each book gives our readers enough satisfaction that they want to talk about it with their friends. Word of mouth gets others interested and excited about our books.

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    2. That is the way that I look at it. I'd rather my writing do most of the speaking for me. Thanks for the good thoughts and encouragement, and of course, for your wonderful books that are so fun to read!

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  5. Hey Jody!
    You are so right! Writing a good book takes time, energy and focus-- and we writers can't allow ourselves to get too busy with other things, no matter how important those things are. You are such a great influence! God bless!

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  6. As a not-yet-published novelist, I bought into the hype that said I needed to create an online presence and build a platform prior to publication. I chose to start with blogging because I could use posts as writing exercises, then I gradually added other things. I'm appalled at how much time I sometimes spend online, and have recently begun to cut back. I love all the cyber friendships I've made, but it's premature to do so much in the name of promotion when I have nothing published to promote.

    I do my best writing during week-long stints at our cabin where there is no electricity or cell phone service -- when I can get into my stories and stay there. This business of taking a break every hour to check for e-mail, tweets and FB messages, etc., interrupts the train of thought. It takes me longer to regain that precious state of my storytelling mind than the length of time I spent away from it. That proves to me I need to find a way to balance today's challenges with the all-important need to spend time producing quality writing.

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  7. It's hard for me to make writing a priority sometimes because I have multiple jobs, but one thing that helps me is that I make writing part of my routine. That is, I'll think of all the daily tasks that have to be done that day. And then I'll promise myself that fiction writing is my "reward" for getting those tasks done; it helps motivate me to complete those tasks.

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  8. This post should be elevated to the status of Manifesto for Writers Who Write! Brilliant and very timely! :)

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  9. Well said Jody. As an unpublished writer, I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Sure, social media has advantages, but because it is such a time suck, our time needs to be managed. Our stories will speak for themselves. I like what Kristen Lamb said about the whole numbers thing - the only numbers we should be concerned about is our word count. How true that is! Being unpublished, I agree with Susan in the comments - I have the advantage of using my time to 'just write'.

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  10. This post just makes me think! Great reading.

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  11. You made me think of some music groups or bands that are manufactured, publicized, and generally promoted to success. Do they endure? Only if their talent is able to match the hype.

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  12. Another great post on this topic, Jody!

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  13. This post could not have come at a better time. I've shared it with readers of Writing North Idaho, along with the clever graphic. Thanks, Jody!

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