A Not So Solitary Life

Speaking of Writing

You may think writing is the life for you if you are shy and prefer to work alone. Many speakers will tell you that writing is a solitary profession. Plus, you get to wear your house shoes while at work. Writing, if you intend to actually make money, is not the solitary life you might imagine.

As your writing success increases, the time you spend alone will shrink.

Some writers are drawn to the profession because they are shy. Public speaking terrifies most people. Writers must build the skills to over come the fear of public speaking if they intend to make a career of writing.

At this point in your career, networking, cultivating contacts, finding support and knowledge from fellow writers in a writers group will help build your confidence and keep you away from the refrigerator and the television. Attend regular Missouri Writers Guild chapter meetings. Or, start a new chapter. Your writing will benefit from any of these important networking opportunities offered by Missouri Writers Guild. The more you contribute, the more you benefit.

While you are writing, you must also set aside time for reading. Learn from other writers.
Once I became a writer I began to read differently. Every book became a lesson. Writers learn about writing by reading great writing. If I pick up a book by Joyce Carol Oates or Tennessee Williams, I’m going to enjoy the prose, but I’ll also learn something about style and technique.

John le Carre said, “A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world”.

It is important to have contact with the world away from you computer. Stay in contact with the readers who will buy your work. Go to a bookstore; see what’s on the self. Learn what’s selling, who’s buying books, find out if your story, book, article has just been published. Get out of the house, look around. Story ideas aren’t delivered to your desk with a neat outline, marketing plan and a contract.

Your reputation as an authority will grow along with the your list of publications. Not only do you have to ask someone to publish your work, now that you are “in print”, novice writers will ask you how to jump the hurdle from writer wanna be to published writer. The more you write the more people will seek your advice and opinion.

Fear will end your career as a writer before you are published. If you remain a solitary writer, you are journaling. Keeping a diary is a lot easier than being a writer. Being a writer requires putting yourself in the public eye. Here are some of the most effective ways to get your writing in print.

Writers’ conferences are good places to meet agents, publishers and experienced authors who can offer advice. Sign up for a pitch session and introduce yourself. Consider a pitch session as a job interview. “We met at the Missouri Writers Guild Conference” will grab an agent’s attention and save your email query from the slush pile.

You cannot return to that solitary life once you are published. Marketing yourself and your publications demands visibility. There are loads of web sites and books to help you with marketing. Networking, writers groups and professional organizations like Missouri Writers’ Guild are a resource pool of the latest and most effective marketing techniques.

Writing, I think, is the easy part. Putting your work before the public requires help from agents, editors, buyers, readers, reviewers and friends. Writing may be a solitary job. Making a living as writer requires that you step out of that isolated life and into the public. Marketing your writing is a very hard thing for a reclusive writer.

Statistics show that people fear speaking in public more than they do death. Jerry Seinfeld joked about our fear of public speaking. He said that if we were at a funeral, most of us would prefer to be in the casket rather than delivering the eulogy.

Today we have instant access to many professional tools simply as a benefit of membership in Missouri Writers’ Guild. Very few writers can get published without online access. We have, email, instant messaging, social networks, chat rooms, e-zines and Internet writers support groups. While computer access may be convenient, it can consume a great deal of your writing time.

Writing and being published is not easy. You may have heard about the writer who is greeted by St Peter at heaven’s gate.

“First, let’s take a tour of heaven and hell,” St Peter says to the writer. In hell they see thousand of writers starring at keyboards, mumbling to themselves, writing furiously, completely oblivious, sweating, swearing and exhausted. St Peter and the writer return to heaven.

The writer is ready to enter the gates of paradise until he sees the same scene. All the writers are bent over their keyboards, mumbling to themselves, writing furiously, completely oblivious, sweating, swearing, and exhausted.

Confused, the writer asks, “What’s the difference between heaven and hell?” St. Peter says, “In heaven you get published!”