Writing is a Craft and a Career
My all-time favorite craft-of-writing book is Chris Roerden’s Don’t Sabotage Your Submission (published originally as Don’t Murder Your Manuscript). I learned so much from that book as a new writer that I’ve recommended it to others many times. The book covers no fewer than twenty-four newbie traps to avoid, including Bloody Backstory, Fatal Flashback, Dying Dialogue, and Killed by Cliché.
While Roerden’s focus is producing the best manuscript you can, I’d like to submit a few lessons I’ve learned about writing as a career. There are more ways to kill a budding career as an author than trying to sell a novel that isn’t ready for prime time.
Five sure-fire ways to kill your writing career:
1. Write in a vacuum.
Is your attitude “I don’t have time
for all that. Just let me write.” The English poet John Dunne famously said “No
man is an island.” That is certainly true for budding writers. We need the
encouragement and inspiration of others. We need to learn and grow. We need to
see beyond our own horizons. We need friends and colleagues.
2. Refuse to take advice.
Advice can be devastating, and
writers can feel defensive. “What does she know??” The first time I got
feedback from a developmental editor, I joked that I was on suicide watch. I
wasn’t, but it was definitely a shock. Only when I finally took her advice and
the advice of other writers along the same lines did I move forward in my
career. Don’t assume you know best, even if you have an advanced degree in literature and writing as I
did. You don’t know what you don’t know.
3. Treat other writers as competitors instead of colleagues.
Are you jealous when someone else
gets a writing contract? Do you fail to give someone a five-star review because
it feels like you’re aiding the enemy? My favorite motto from the writing
community is: No one has to fail in order for me to succeed. That
deserves to be cross-stitched and hung above our computer screen.
4. Defend yourself when you get a bad review.
This can be hard. When someone
levels a criticism, everything in us rises up in defense—especially when the criticism
is unfair or unwarranted. I got a one-star review once because the reader read
politics into my book. Which was not only untrue but bizarre. Everything in me
wanted to defend myself. But I didn’t. Replying in a snarky or self-defensive way
to a bad review will only hurt your reputation.
5. Give up when success doesn’t happen quickly.
You know this one, don’t you?
Winston Churchill, who knew a thing or two about discouragement, once said,
“Never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small,
large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." The only manuscript you can submit is the one you finished.
How to give yourself the best chance of success
Simply take my five examples and flip them
around:
1. Seek community.
2. Be willing to take advice.
3. Treat other writers as
colleagues.
4. Let bad reviews die their
miserable deaths.
5. Persevere.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
