Occasionally, people ask me for writing advice. Over the years my response has changed. When I started off, oh my goodness, everything was amazing and I wanted to share the possibilities. They seemed endless and they were all so good. But the more you learn, the less you know! Now, my advice boils down to “everyone’s path is their own”.
I’m aware that it sounds like a cop out. It’s not. It means that where you’re starting from on your writing and publishing journey, your motivations, your goals, the ethical choices you’ll make (and the compromises), your definition of success, and for how long writing remains a priority will be unique to you and will change over time.
There are a lot of free and paid resources for writers. When you have a question, you can find an answer. Reflect not just on what you’re creating, but where it (and the process of creation) fits in your life. Choose what you give to writing and value what you receive from it.
All of that said, I’m not a meanie. If you’d like good writing advice and a vetted list of writing and publishing support services, I recommend Jane Friedman’s website as a starting point. I’m also happy to receive other recommendations, so if you have a book or course or whatever that has been helpful to you on your writing journey, feel free to mention it in the comments.
Comments
4 responses to “Advice? Um, Not From Me”
I feel what you’re saying with the “everyone’s path is their own” advice, because I get asked for advice for working in my industry and it’s so hard to give something more specific. I think people want a “one-size-fits-all” map to success, but there’s really no such thing.
The best advice I can give folks is “opportunities will happen, and you have to be prepared to pivot to take advantage of them”. I feel like this is the most useful advice I can give someone, because it is a reminder that a rock-solid plan is not always your best friend. I think people who find success are people who don’t have blinders on, fixated only on the steps they want to take; they’re the people who have their eyes wide open to all the possibilities, and can pivot to take advantage of something new coming into their path. Flexibility is as vital as determination, in my experience. Have goals, but keep the framework of your path loose enough to encompass different ways of getting there.
Carrie, I absolutely overlooked the preparation to pivot! People talk about pivoting as if it just happens, but you really do have to prepare yourself and be aware of the world. “Flexibility is as vital as determination” needs to be repeated more.
Every path is different! This is so true.
I have started the course Publish and Thrive this month for indie authors. It covers more of the logistics of publishing and budgets and decision etc etc. all the behind the scenes madness you posted about recently. The course price was definitely a large of my publishing budget. But WOW I think it will save me its price over and over again. I mention it here because that course launches with a series of photos of all the different paths there are to publishing your book. And Sarra Cannon isn’t just a brilliant teacher, but one who makes sure to hold open doors for paths that do not fit the ‘if you just do X you’ll get Y’ norm. Like chronic illness, 10 books published, limited budgets. Highly recommend.
Jade, I must be living under a rock. I hadn’t heard of Sarra, and there she is, even with a YouTube channel! Thank you 🙂 People who recognise the unique constraints, and therefore, paths to different versions of success are gold. It affirms that our unusual paths are just as valid as following mainstream advice – which for the last few years was write fast, write to market, and now AI is upending everything!
To anyone else curious, Sarra also includes a list of useful author resources, https://sarracannon.com/indie-writer-resources/