You may have noticed I am blogging significantly less than I used to. At the very least, I used to be pretty good about my Writing Prompt Wednesday posts. But not so these days. These days I can scarce keep up with my monthly goal posts and monthly what-in-the-crap-did-I-actually-do-this-month posts.
Part of this is due to me now writing on a weekly basis for Doctor Who Watch (thus, less time for my own blogging). Part of this is due to the fact that blogging takes up a great deal of energy for me. And it always has. Those of you who’ve been around here for awhile probably picked up on the fact that if I blog, it’s usually about some realization about myself or my writing I’ve recently had, or about some lesson that’s finally clicked into place in my head.
I express myself better through writing, and always have. I like to write self-revelations down so that I remember them. When something unfolds in my head and I finally GET IT, I want to jot it down as best I can, for Future Me. That’s what I’m doing even right this very moment, with this post.
But this means that my posts are not often light and short and quick. They are long and involved and generally heavier. Thus the high energy and high time commitment to writing them. Thus my not writing as many lately. I’ve been concentrating on other things, things I put a higher priority on than keeping up with this blog. Sometimes … a lot of times … I would think of this blog, sitting here gathering dust, and feel guilty for not making myself post more often (which would, essentially, also require me to change what this blog really is for me).
And then, just last month, I started listening to the audiobook of “Write. Publish. Repeat.” (I have since finished it.) There are a few moments in my life as relate to my writing career that crystalize everything into a wonderful moment of clarity. Usually these moments get blog posts. If I were to look back in my timeline of my writing career, these moments are the pillars. The lynchpins. The spring boards. The moments I can clearly see as being vital to my advancement as a writer. (And luckily most of them are preserved here, lol.)
Listening to “Write. Publish. Repeat.” was one of those moments. I can already say that hearing that book has changed my life. Not only because it set forth a sound self-publishing strategy among a sea — a roiling, unruly SEA — of varying self-publishing advice, but because it did so in such a simple, straight forward, inspirational and motivational way.
I am nearing the moment when I will self-publish my very own book for the first time. And realizing this, I panicked. I knew nothing. (Like, less than Jon Snow.) Researching in an attempt to find help made things worse. Even asking other indie authors was a challenge. Everyone has a different strategy that works for them. I felt like I might be losing my mind.
Then, desperate, I bought a handful of self-publishing How To books recommended by Jane Friedman. “Write. Publish. Repeat.” was the one I read first, and solely because it was offered on audio book. I am SO GLAD I did this.
I am calm now. I have a plan. And yes, I will still adapt the suggested strategy to best fit my own needs, but at least I have a solid FOUNDATION that is PROVEN. The authors make a full-time living (all three of them) at self-publishing. It CAN be done. I don’t want or need millions, I would just like a living, someday, eventually, please.
It’s not easy, but I never asked for easy. I just wanted some advice. Some pointers. The tiniest of visible trails in the mad JUNGLE that is indie publishing.
“Write. Publish. Repeat.” did that in the best way possible. It was EXACTLY what I needed at this point in my writing life. And it reiterated what I’ve heard several authors state before: Just write your books.
But pffft, when you hear that from a big name, it’s easy to sluff off. Sure, THEY can just worry about writing, but my situation is different because I’m publishing myself, and I need a website, and I need social media, and I need a blog, and I need a badass cover, and I literally have to do all of this and I mean everything all by myself …
But no. That’s not true at all. All I really need to do is the same thing every other author really needs to do.
JUST. WRITE.
Just write the books. That’s it.
*breathes massive sigh of relief*
For some reason, hearing this stated over and over again from Johnny and Sean (and Dave) made it finally sink in. Throughout the course of their book, they made me like them, and trust them, and that’s probably also a big reason why it finally stuck. They weren’t someone unreachable I’ve never met, so to say. They were “real” people. And if it worked for them, it could work for me.
Just write.
So now, when everything else starts crowding around in my brain, everything I feel like needs attention related to my writing career, I simply take a breath and remind myself to just write the story, and don’t worry about anything else right now.
Blogging is not what I want to do in life. It is helpful to me, for sure, and I hope helpful to any other writers out there, and I also hope it’s interesting for any readers (you never knew we writers were so neurotic, did you?), but it’s not my *thing*. My THING is WRITING BOOKS, damnit, and that’s what I’m going to do!
Don’t be surprised if you don’t see me around here too often, aside from the monthly updates and random EUREKA posts. I will be adding a mailing list to this site shortly, which will be much more fun for me to send out regularly, and which will include updates and excerpts from my in-progress projects, as well as possibly a special small serial fiction just for my subscribers. So if you’d like to keep hearing from me regularly and stay apprised of progress, that would be the way to go!
Otherwise I’ll pop in every now and again to chronicle my discoveries and goals. But I’m not going to feel guilty about not consistently throwing up content anymore, because I’ll be too busy WRITING MY BOOKS.
Remember, my dear fellow authors …
JUST. WRITE.
Paul Davis says
Good! Mine’s been sparse because of this. I’ll have to try out the self-publish book. Good luck in your journey. Don’t panic. S’all good ^_^
jrfrontera says
Thanks! And good luck to you as well! 🙂
I meant to provide a link to that book, and then forgot. 😛 It is here, if you’d like to check it out. Very sound, very solid stuff. Hope you enjoy, and happy writing!
http://www.amazon.com/Publish-Repeat-No-Luck-Required-Self-Publishing-Success-ebook/dp/B00H26IFJS
Caitlin L Mannarino says
I’m reading that book right now, and I had the same huge sigh of relief that you did! I’m glad it’s all do-able.
jrfrontera says
YAY!!! I hope you love it as much as I did. I’ve never actually been so sad when a craft-type of book ended. 😛 I immediately hit replay, hah. I’m sure I’ll be listening to/reading that one over several times. 😀
jwac4 says
The right words can do wonders!
jrfrontera says
Very true! 🙂
jwac4 says
You are amazing, and I am privliged to watch you on your journey!
jrfrontera says
Aw, that’s very sweet of you to say! <3
Dayton Ward says
As I’ve said before, there’s a reason I don’t get invited to teach writing workshops.
Saying, “Sit your butt down and write,” doesn’t seem to justify the appearance fee. 🙂
jrfrontera says
I remember you saying that at Planet Comic Con, lol. But I totally think you could stretch that out to take up at least an hour! I mean … you can talk for 15 minutes on what authors are told they just HAVE to do in addition to writing … 15 minutes on how all of that stuff isn’t necessary … 15 minutes on strategies to eliminate distractions when you just sit your butt down and write … etc etc. 😉
Dayton Ward says
Hmmm….you raise some good points. I’ll have to give the some more thought. 🙂
jrfrontera says
I’m just saying … *I’d* go to a talk like that, if you were to schedule one … 🙂
Z. R. Southcombe says
Yep, those boys feel like ‘real people’ just doing their thing and making enough to do their thing full time. And I think that’s what most of us want – just to make a living, someday in the not-too-far-future 🙂
jrfrontera says
I agree! 🙂 Wouldn’t that be lovely?!
Chandra R says
I got paralyzed for a time, caught in all the advice to “build your platform.” I felt like in order to ever be successful as future-author-me, I needed to urgently start rightnow tweeting clever things and blogging every thought and getting my future-author-future-audience to already like me already. I got lucky, that only lasted a few weeks before I realized that I should finish some of the books first, and worry about that stuff later. I assume that my blog and twitter account will still be there if and when I have time for them.
jrfrontera says
I really enjoy twitter, but not so much blogging, unless I feel I have something really important to say. I don’t want to do anything that I don’t enjoy, as that time can be spend more wisely. But yes, there’s a lot out there that tells you should be doing a million different things all the time, and it can get overwhelming. Glad to hear you didn’t succumb to that mode of thinking very long! Thanks for the comment and for reading!