Writing & Success

WRITING AND SUCCESS

Have you decided to be a writer? 

Behave that way. Write. 

Have you decided to be a struggling writer? 

Behave that way. Struggle. 

Have you decided to be a successful writer? 

Behave that way. Be successful. 

How? 

What is success to you? 

What is a successful writer to you? 

“I complete the manuscript.” 

Good. One point. 

“My books sell.” 

That is a successful capitalist. It is a whole different thing to being a writer. One point. 

“Everyone knows my pen name.” 

That is fame. You can get that by blowing up parliament. Not so much to do with writing. One point. 

“My printed books are influential, cherished and preserved for many generations yet to come.” 

Excellent. That is a successful writer. One point. 

Which of those four points is a successful writer? 

They all are. That is how we should behave. 

We now have goals and structure. 

“How do we achieve all that?” 

-Complete the manuscript. This requires focus and time. Perfect the story. 

-Sell copies. This requires Marketing. Everyone to know the product is desirable. 

-Famous. This requires positive reputation. Everyone to like your personality. 

-Preserved for generations. This requires people to love the books and the stories they contain. 

“What do we need to be a successful writer?” 

Focus. Time. Marketing. Reputation. Quality. 

“Should the book as a product stand alone from the writer as a celebrity?” 

Absolutely yes. 

“What is the purpose of fame?”

Ego aside. It is about Marketing. To increase the number of copies which exist and the respect people have for the book, so they want to read it, they tell their friends to buy it, they buy it again for their friends; so they want to preserve it for generations. 

“Is there a formula for ensuring my books last for centuries?” 

Write a high quality book. Mass produce and widely distribute it. 

“But I only want to be an internet author reliant on technology.”

Then an animated cartoon company will profit from your story and forget to credit you as source. 

“What about ghost-writers?”

Commercial cash jobs and spirit medium channelling of a book both have the same descriptor. 

This illustrates a point; criteria for defining success depend on the intention of the writer. 

Define your intention. What is your plan?

“Magazine articles which pay by word count?” 

Study that form and excel. You will need to market your skill-set rather than a book. 

“In one word, what is the best way to become a really good writer?” 

Life Experience. Which at its core means integrity. What is the average age of authors of the worlds most famous books? Live wild as a youth, settle when you’re middle-aged. Almost all of them tell that story. 

“Which one doesn’t?” 

Tragedies.

Homework Assignment

 

1 Go to a local library. 

2 Make a percentage of how many of the books there were printed within the past ten years , twenty-five years, fifty years, one hundred years, two-hundred and fifty years, older. You will be surprised. 

3 Make a note of how many of those are reprints, how many times have they been re-printed, how often? 

4 Now think about how many books were written in the past twelve months and how many of those books will still be reprinted into hardcopy and stocked by libraries in fifty years from now.