Ruth Ann Nordin is the author of several romance novels. She appears to be the most prolific contributor to a group of self-published authors.
Her posts to this blog are always relevant and timely, as is todays. Similarly, the subsequent comment by LC Cooper is weighty but has its merits. Her comment can be found below my intro to Ruth Ann Nordin’s post. LC’s comment is included in its entirety (with permission of the author).
My purpose in sharing these with you is to help you remain focused on what made you want to write. Any deviation from your personal goal, as these two authors point out, will have you chasing windmills and the dreams of other writers.
Lesson to you: Keep writing as long as it remains fun to do so, enjoy it as you would any other hobby. Don’t sweat about the money (or lack thereof). As it goes in professional sports, popular bands, and the like, the top, high-paying, and highly visible places take years of hard work, patience, and just being in the right place at the right time. You can’t control others and how they receive your works. The only thing you can control is how you choose to react to others.
Ruth Ann makes the qualified point to write for yourself and not for a specific market; it seems a career-destroying plan, but from all I’ve observed and read, she’s absolutely correct.
Building upon Ruth Ann Nordin’s post, LC Cooper adds points from her perspective that I believe are also important to read.
Below you will find Ruth Ann Nordin’s post (The Illusion of Happiness in the Writing Community” followed by LC Cooper’s supporting comment
Have a nice day.
~ R.J.
Ruth Ann Nordin’s post (“The Illusion of Happiness in the Writing Community”) on the Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors blog (SPAHA)
Within her post, novelist Ruth Ann Nordin shares her observations and experiences of coming to grips with what is likely to make an author miserable and what can help authors find their calling. She addresses the fallacy of the equation “High Income + Hitting a Big List (like USA or New York Times Bestseller) = Happiness”. Read more ... https://selfpubauthors.wordpress.com/2018/11/02/the-illusion-of-happiness-in-the-writing-community/
LC Cooper's complete comment, published in its entirety, with permission:
I always appreciate your insight and candor, Ruth Ann. This post was refreshing. You write these essays from your heart, and they frequently awaken something inside me.
I never tried to write-to-market, but I did begin leaning in that direction. It remains the siren song among writers. That money is the measure of success is in our blood. How many times have we all said, “If only I had enough money, I would ...”
Our ancestral need to belong to a diverse community, where all our gifts and talents are pooled for the collective good, appears to have morphed into something much less natural — the sense of belonging to clubs and groups of shared interests and hobbies. Thus, it’s more important for many, in our case, to belong to writing clubs, associations, and the like.
Case in point, I received an email inviting me to join what I thought was a writing association where I could rub elbows with the elite writers of the world. Dollar signs danced in my head. “If I could just ...”
Then came the sentence that clumped me into the pile of have-nots — In order to join this prestigious group of professional writers, I had to submit proof that one of my novels must have sold over 5,000 copies during its first year of release.
Instantly, I felt pangs of jealousy. I couldn’t belong to this lofty white-tower of the writing elite. “If only I sold enough books ...”
Well, I believed I couldn’t join because I wasn’t writing-to-market. I was writing for my own satisfaction and enjoyment. It was my hobby that I hoped would produce just one single home run — just popular and powerful enough to sell thousands, maybe millions of copies. Then, I’d know I made it. I’d show those elitist snobs ... “If only I could sell ...”
I chased someone else’s dream. I completely gave up on my sense of community and belonging, sacrificing the very reasons I began writing. I was killing the fun hobby that writing had been.
This is a simplified, time-lapsed version of my story. I lost sight of what’s important to me. I don’t want to join groups of like-minded folks. I want to join reading groups, talk to folks at coffee shops, hang out with family and friends at functions and reunions, bump carts with fellow shoppers at the grocery, and talk about my novels and short stories when appropriate to do so.
I’m fortunate to have folks like you, Ruth Ann, in my life. You’re unique in that you share with us the good and the bad, and you do so without the expectation that your followers conform to your rules of writing.
Many of us — and our stories — will perish — forever trapped in the wall of content — never sticking out far enough to impress readers enough to become a loyal fanbase.
Just have fun with writing, folks. From my decades of penning stories, this is my only meaningful suggestion. If you’re no longer enjoying writing, then find another hobby.
Thank you, again, Ruth Ann, for encouraging me to open my big mouth.
Kindly,
LC
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