Business Advice for Writers ~ Reader Beware !

Last November, I shared the post The “Right” Way To Write ~ Writing Advice for The Brave . . .

In that post, I said: “These days, writing advice is cheap—even free on the Web—cheap, also, in the sense ‘of little worth because achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort’.”

I also shared a quote in that post:

“For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it’s wrong.”
Henry Louis Menkin

While that post and its links focused on advice about the actual writing that writers do, I’m going to warn you to be on your guard when reading business advice for writers, too.

And, these days, with writers self-publishing, the business side of writing is more important than ever…

Regular readers of this blog have seen me link out to information from Jane Friedman many times.

Well, two months ago, Jane began a monthly feature of Best Business Advice for Writers.

In the November edition of Best Business Advice for Writers, she said:

“For a couple years, I curated a weekly round-up of links called Best Tweets for Writers. I had fun doing it, but ultimately abandoned it in 2011 when I could no longer sustain the time commitment.

“Nowadays, there’s no shortage of link round-ups for writers, of varying quality. While I hesitate to add another one to the mix, I’m going to enter the fray again, but on a monthly basis, strictly focusing on the business of being a writer. No craft & technique, no inspirational stuff. Just the absolute best advice I’ve found, online, about being smarter about your career—and why I think it’s the best.”

Now, why should someone trust that Jane knows what she’s talking about?

How about this from her Google+ Profile:

“Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a literary journal that has won more National Magazine Awards than any quarterly magazine in the nation.

“Jane is a frequent speaker at publishing industry and writing conferences, and has appeared at more than 200 events since 2001, including LitFlow Berlin, South by Southwest, the Whidbey MFA residency, BookExpo America, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

“Her expertise has been featured widely, by sources such as NPR’s Morning Edition, Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, The Huffington Post, and Mr. Media. She maintains a blog at JaneFriedman.com, which enjoys 35,000+ unique visitors every month, and her presence on Twitter (160,000+ followers) is often cited as a model for those seeking to use social media effectively.

“Jane consults with a range of nonprofits, businesses, and creative professionals, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Work Fund, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.”

Yet, even with all those credentials, and even though I’ve only had one instance where I didn’t like a bit of her advice, one would, hopefully, naturally, use caution and circumspection in accepting any advice…

With that said, here’s her December edition of Best Business Advice for Writers.

With all due caution, I’m looking forward to her January edition :-)
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The “Right” Way To Write ~ Writing Advice for The Brave . . .

These days, writing advice is cheap—even free on the Web—cheap, also, in the sense “of little worth because achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort”.

If you want “writing advice” from this blog, use the Subject Index Links; or, use this link >>> Writing Advice…

If you go there, you’ll see this post (because I’m adding “writing advice” to its Tags) and, next, the post, Writing Advice, Even from Well-Known Authors, Can Be “Dangerous” . . .

That last post I linked to has other links to writing advice from seven extremely talented and famous authors, yet it also has this quote:

“For every ‘rule’ in the books, some book of creative writing has successfully ‘broken’ it :-)”

So, what IS the RIGHT way to write?

Well, let me relate a bit of a conversation I had last night with my best friend.

We’d been to a benefit trivia contest on Book Island in the virtual world Second Life and she recalled the extremely common trait people share of wanting to be “Right”.

Naturally, if a person is “wrong” often enough, they will “fail”…

But then, there is that phenomenon where a person does the “wrong” thing in a situation yet comes out smelling like the sweetest flower in the garden.

Also, we live in a rather fractured and ailing society where deciding “right” and “wrong” can often be, to say the least, agonizing…

When it comes to writing advice, what’s right in one situation or for a particular writer can be very wrong for another writer or in different circumstances.

To say creative writing is a complex task is to utter one whopper of an understatement.

So let me drive home my main point with a special quote:

“For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it’s wrong.”
Henry Louis Menkin

What’s to be done?

Please, let me humbly offer a potential solution:

Get to know your Deepest Inner Self.

Some might say your Real Self—down below the personae worn for the sake of society—beyond the doubts and worries of the ego—in that mental space that others can’t reach…

If you write from that place you’ll often find yourself, when contemplating your work, saying, “Who the hell wrote this?”

You’ll reach a realm where the “rules” fade-out—where “right” is merely whatever you do—where all authors of any worth go when they say they’re “in the Zone”…

Sure, even if you write from that sweet-spot, you’ll want an editor to look over your work.

But…

You’ll also be in a stable state of mind that can confidently tell the editor they’re wrong :-)

Easy to do?

Hell no.

Necessary?

Only if you want your work to be Authentic………
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Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
* Google Author Page