This post is mostly information, no research, not scripted.
Most writers seek information and information, between YouTube, writing community, books, you name it. If writing is something you want to do you got to do an assessment of how are you at the moment.
Writing takes patience and overcoming life in general. Not many people will understand why you are behind your computer for hours. Including your same household. Some will think that you can leave your writing and come back to it with the same energy. Let’s say you have kids in the house, and one of them needs your attention, you will probably not be in the same mood to write because of an incident. Discipline. Commitment. What does your story mean to you?
When I say do the assessment is to figure out where you stand. If you are living with your parents, no matter your age, and they run that financial part, then you are ahead of the game. If you need to provide for yourself or any other, your time begins to dissolve. Either way, you will need to write when you can. And move forward each time that you can.
Besides writing you need to educate yourself. Watch a video, ask colleagues, read a book. You will need to train your mind. I know the next TV show is good, but again, what does your story mean to you?
If you are going to write and have a book and just want to call yourself an author, then do so. Now, if you will want to buy numerous books, live off your stories, treat everything you are doing as a business. Numbers, planning, outlining, having an agenda, scheduling, completing deadlines, author platform, and so on. I’ve seen people struggle their whole life with good stories, but they don’t put the work that comes before and after publishing. These days there is so much noise. You are either going against established authors or trying to stay relevant. There are online classes on how to reach the masses.
Be persistent. Sometimes your first book won’t sell. Maybe you will get rejected. You must keep going no matter what. At what pace? That you will have to ask yourself. If you want to get to the top fast, focus directly on your story. You can also balance things out. Not everything is work. Plus you don’t want to mistreat your family, significant other, or even your goldfish. You need to write the next book. You got to write the next query letter. You need to post on your blog, social media, whatever to keep being productive.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. What better example than the book cover. Let’s say you have this great story, but your dog can create better art than you; you should hire someone to do that for you. Social media page, networking. There is too much going on for you to be an expert on everything book-wise, author-wise, or whatever wise you want to point out, that you will need help, to achieve the desired goals.
One of the best things to do before, while, or after you are done writing your story is to plan. Get ahead of the curve or work smarter by planning. Sometimes improvisation can have great results, but mostly there are many misses. One of the main reasons why many writers get rejected is because they query an agent that simply does not work your genre. That simple. But then those writers become anxious because they only see the rejection and can’t see that they did not research better that agent. Planning can also help with your book. Outlining. I know there are people who like to write in the burst of the moment, but besides writing, what are you going to do? Most people do not get their name high because of pure luck. There are many factors, and much more work done to get to be noticed. Again there is too much noise on the internet and in the writing community.
I circle back with patience. This will be a recurring theme always as a writer. Be patient, with your story, with yourself, the market, sales, author platform. Ask yourself if you are working smarter. Ask yourself if you are putting in the work. Because there is a difference between being patient and not doing nothing, and being patient always moving forward. Let’s say that your book sales aren’t going that well, but your author platform is growing, eventually, which could lead to more sales. Keep putting in your work, and don’t think that on your first try you will have a movie deal or become financially independent. Again, what does this story mean to you?
Money. I said to treat this as your business. Grow your author platform. Even if you don’t make most of your money from sales, these days you can earn from lots of places. That’s why you need to plan ahead. Maybe your YouTube channel grew exponentially, sponsor ads, Patreon, Kickstarter, anything that can help you get financially independent can help you focus more time on writing. For example, you spent two years growing your business while having an 8 to 5 job. What if, in between all that you get a sum of money that you could detach yourself from that 8 to 5? Be consistent. Keep planning. Draw yourself a path to success that you could put next steps to take if your status quo changes.
At the end of it all. You will have this journey mostly with you. What do you want in your life? Write? Collaborate? Jump to a writer’s table with a big movie company? Advertising agency? No matter what it is that you want, keep moving forward. Keep pushing. Be humble about it. Always keep learning. The only way to continue growing is to have a dream, a goal, and keep learning. If you don’t have those last three things, is when you will start to grow mentally old. Haven’t you seen people at an advanced age with an energy of a youngster? You should always have those three things in your life. Above all, you should pursue your own happiness.
I wish to hear about what advice you will give other writers. Technical advice. Whichever advice you think is relevant. That way we can all share those experiences and continue growing as authors, as human beings, our art, and in life.