Saturday, November 29, 2014

The End of the Line


The End of the Line


I’ve been struggling with something for a little while. Well actually, ever since I started writing this blog.
I don’t like writing a blog.
I like writing my stories. I like creating characters, adding depth and history to them, and I like putting them in certain settings, and starting a chain of events that turns into a plot.
I’ve loved doing that since I was a kid.
What I don’t like is writing about writing. Or writing editorial-styled pieces about my thoughts or beliefs, or about current-events. I don’t like being tied to having to do one of these pieces at least once a week.
But that’s what I’ve always heard writers are supposed to do. At least once a week, although most sources who promote blogging say even more than that.
But I spoke recently to another indie writer, Rysa Walker, who did not subscribe to that philosophy. Some excerpts:
Most of the successful indie writers I know focus on writing a lot of books – that will earn you more money than diverting effort into your blog in most cases. If you’re trying to attract an agent (that rare, and in my view, increasingly useless creature), then yes, you’ll need a blog and a bazillion twitter followers . . . . I do not run a “writerly” blog – I use Facebook and Twitter to try to “pay back” any fellow writers who invite me to their blog, assuming I actually like the book . . . . The one thing that I do quite often is read blogs about the business of writing – because some of the best information about the industry can be found there and you need that to survive in IndieLand . . . . If you’re hoping to attract an agent, however – they’ll probably want to see that blog.
That first point, focus on writing a lot of books, that’s the main one that resonated with me. I have one book out there, Profile. Its follow-up, Private Messages, is nearly ready to release. I’m 2/3 to 3/4 of the way finished with the third book in the trilogy, Poked. Besides those, I also have three other books completed but, as yet, unpublished. Not to mention the ideas that I have for other stories.
But the time I have to devote weakly weekly to writing something that does not come easily to me is time that could have been spent on writing something that does. My stories.
In asking around, a few others have expressed similar views. And so, because it’s convenient for me, I’m adopting it as my view as well. I know this blog has two or three readers, and they may miss it, but maybe they’ll get to enjoy the next book that much sooner.
This will be the last Grey Matters entry. For now, at least. Who knows what the future holds?
But for now, please excuse me. I have a story trying to get out.