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three other books completed but, as yet, unpublished.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.
