Oh, writing rules. The blogosphere is full of them. I've been writing and studying writing for years, but I've only been reading blogs about it for several months, and I'm often shocked by all the posts about rules. It's overwhelming, and I think most of these posts are counterproductive. Which I guess makes me a bit hypocritical for writing such a post of my own, but, it's blog chain time.Kate has me thinking about rules with her question:
What writing rules/advice - whether it was a matter of cannot or will not - have you broken?
The two writing "rules" I most often read about are Write, Write, Write and Read, Read, Read. While I do spend my time writing and reading, I don't think I'm doing them as much as I should be, so that is a rule I'm breaking, though not so much in a willful way. It's more an issue of time management and lack of confidence than a crossing my arms over my chest and saying, "Not gonna' do it!" But, I do believe that the more writing and reading a writer does, the better that writer will be.
As for writing advice I won't follow, most of it has to do with marketing and social networking. Maybe I'm digging myself a hole by saying this, but I think social networking and marketing on blogs and twitter etc. is a lot of hype. I now know dozens of writers with agents and book deals, and I know what their books are about, but that doesn't make me want to buy them. I will buy or read a book that's interesting to me, but I'm not going to pick something up just because I heard about it a lot. Sometimes, the more I hear about something, the less interested I become. It's oversaturation. It's like how stores began displaying their Halloween merchandise in August. I love Halloween, but I've already seen so much of it, and by the time the end of October is here, I'm going to be sick of it.
I'm not saying having a blog and writing about your book is a bad thing. Obviously, I do the same thing every week. I'll be reviewing my wip's progress after this post. I like having my writing blog because it keeps me accountable with my projects, and I have met some awesome people and found truly inspiring blogs through this process. But I don't consider this blog a very effective marketing tool. I'm on facebook, but it's for fun, not for networking. And I've tried Twitter, and I don't like it. For me, it's a waste of time. I already said I have time management issues, so I don't need more noise keeping me from writing and reading.
So, just like agents are inundated with query letters, I'm inundated with the rules of writing and publishing blogs. Agents filter out the stories that don't speak to them, and I'm filtering out the rules that don't feel true to me. I don't blog to build a platform, and I'm not concerned about "hooking" my reader on the first page, and I don't really care what the market's doing or what the next breakout novel is. I just care about me, haha! There is not a lot of time in the day, so if I'm ever going to write amazing stories, I need to be writing them and not reading about how to write them.
And I must stop talking now so you can write, too.
14 comments:
Yeah. I have a hard time with the social networking sometimes. I do okay keeping up with my blog. But keeping up with other blogs is a challenge. :) Don't even get me started on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. I enjoy them, don't get me wrong, I just don't have time to spend all day making a zillion contacts :)
Good post! I joined Twitter to network, but for me, the signal-to-noise ratio was too low to make it worth my time. I also prefer to read an author's books over her blog; the story matters more to me.
Good Post. On the whole "platform" thing...nothing matters until you've written a good book. That is where 90% of the time should be spent IMHO. After that, then build away. Good luck!!!
It's all just too overwhelming, so I see exactly where you're coming from. I'm into blogging for the relationships, which is why I moved my followers box down to the bottom of my blog. I love my followers, but I was feeling a little bit like I was competing or something.
I love your honesty, Annie. It inspires me daily, I'll have you know.
I know what you mean about all the rules posted on blogs. Sometimes I start reading blogs and hearing about all these things I'm supposed to be doing and I seriously start hyperventilating. So, I have to shut down my internet for awhile and just write. :) Great post!
Annie, I know writers who REFUSE to do the social networking thing. It's hard work, not to mention time consuming! But you're right. Blogging, networking, etc should be about more than just marketing yourself. I don't read authors who have fabulous blogs or great advertising. I read authors who are great writers!
There can be a lot of good that can come from avoiding the social networking thing. It tends to be a black hole that sucks you in and spitw you out before you've realized you've lost hours. Hours! Hooray for you to avoid the madness :)
Great post. I also admire your brutal honesty. I'm often struggling to find the vein you are already in, where I just write and write and don't get caught up in all the blog/marketing/internet stuff. It definitely is too easy to get lost and not concentrate on the writing, which is why we're all here anyway. Nice job.
Ooh, I love your comparison to agents having to filter out bad queries, to your ignoring the rules that don't work for you.
Blogging and social networking take A LOT of time and energy. For some, it works. For others, it doesn't.
I like it simply because my "real live friends" aren't writing addicts and don't understand the writers mindset. That's why I do it. Don't feel bad if it doesn't work for you.
Great post!
I agree--I hang out on social networking sites (ala Facebook) mostly to keep up with people Iknow. Twitter I use a bit for networking, but I'm generally too shy to talk to people I don't know even on the Internet. I think it's great that you're not concerning yourself with it at this point. People obviously wrote books and promoted them before these sites came along. And there's definitely something off-putting about seeing the same "My book's coming out in 5/4/3/2/1 days" posts where that's the only thing people spam you with fifteen times a day. It's fine if it's once or twice daily, but when it gets to be every hour on the hour then it just makes me want to block the person doing the spamming.
Ha! You're actually following the rules by not caring what the market's doing. Agents will tell you not to chase a trend but to create one. By the time you write a book and sell it for something that's hot right now, it'll be two years gone. Write what you love and people will respond.
I do think it's great to do whatever marketing you're comfortable with, instead of forcing something, but I think there has to be a balance between that and doing nothing at all. After all, people can't buy your book if they've never heard of it! :)
I also prefer to read an author's books over her blog; the story matters more to me.
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