I’ve noticed on some of the writer forums and blogs I check out, and in responses to my newsletter, that there is this obsession with getting it right.
What’s the right way to plot, some ask. How should this work? What do editors want to see? What should they focus on, or ignore?
Or, if they’ve sold: what’s the right way to promote? What works, what doesn’t, and how do they make the time for it all?
Ultimately, I think that what they’re asking is:
What can I do that will ensure I succeed?
I feel for them. I’ve been there. It took years to realize just how much this question permeated my life.
I’ve got books out, and more coming.
I’d been freaking out, despite my intentions to the contrary.
But, in true ask-and-you-shall-receive style, there was one answer that kept coming up, year after year.
What can I do that will make me succeed?
Nothing.
There is nothing I can do to guarantee that I’ll succeed. I could create an alter ego on TikTok and post three times a day, build an Instagram platform that could populate a small city, write a novel that would make the angels weep.
And it still might not work.
But you know what?
That’s the good news.
Yes, you read that right. I have no control over the success or failure of my book.
And that is awesome.
By saying that I have no control over the success or failure of my book, I’m not saying that I am going to crawl under a rock, pretending that my book releases are not happening — on the assumption that I still have book releases. I’m not going to give up my writing career because I can’t check off an entire list and get guaranteed results.
I’m powerless over the ultimate results, yes.
That’s not the same as helpless.
It doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t take action, and it certainly doesn’t relinquish agency over my writing or my promotion. It means that I can do what I feel, in my gut, is right — and then let go of what happens afterwards.
There’s an element of accidental Buddhist here. There’s detachment.
I can want something (namely, success for my book) without being crushed if I don’t get it.
I can look at what I might want in the future, and what resonates with me in the present that lines up with what I want then.
I’m probably sounding like a goob, or terribly obvious, but bear with me — this has been a big one this week.
So what would you do, if you were guaranteed to succeed?
You might look at the market less, and write more of what you felt really passionate about. You might look at different ways to sharpen your craft. You might take more time to write. Or, conversely, you might write faster, because you’re not paralyzed by getting things “perfect” and release things to readers who you know will enjoy it.
You wouldn’t stop promoting, either, even if it’s guaranteed. Why? Because ideally, you are going to be writing books you are thrilled with. Because you’re guaranteed to succeed, you know that there are people out there who are dying to read what you’ve written. So it’s not shoving something they don’t want in their faces. It’s letting them know “hey, that thing you love is available” and letting them squeal with delight before one-clicking or zooming to their local bookstore.
You’d approach things with a lot more joy and a lot less fear. Your mindset around what you’re doing would go from dragging your feet to enjoying yourself.
“But I’m not guaranteed!”
The trick is to act as if you are, and then just go for it.
You can’t control things, true. If that’s the case… what do you have to lose? There are enough painful, frightening, gross things in life. If you’re running the gauntlet of publishing by choice, why make it harder on yourself?
Let go, and leap. You’ll be surprised how much more successful the approach is.
You think you feel better? God, that’s freakin’ awesome. Honest to Buddha, one of your very best efforts. Evah!
You crystalized so much of my thinking. Yes, I want my writing to succeed. But just what is success? Have I already achieved it? I think so… at least as far as my muse is concerned. She dished, I scribbled. The rest is important work, and I’m not ducking that fact, but I need to let go of the outcome. Work. Strive. Build. Make mistakes. Start again. Make sure all the carts are in the proper corral, so Walmart shoppers have easy access. And keep writing. That’s all I can do.
Brilliant! Brava, my accidental Buddhist mentor!
Yes, yes, yes. Nine days ago I released my first novel to Amazon. Since then I’ve sold seven copies (yes, I just checked). Not even enough to pay for my cover art. Nowhere near enough to pay for the hours, weeks, months, and years I spent shaping it through nine drafts and three major rewrites. Pretty shabby from a business standpoint.
When I finished it, though — that moment when the finger next to my right pinky slipped down and hit the last “.” — all those man-hours were paid in full. That feeling of accomplishment was something greater than I had imagined. Since then my confidence as a writer has soared (unlike my sales). All week I’ve been thinking exactly what you just put into words. Until that moment I thought it would take impressive sales figures and rave reviews to validate me as a writer. No, it doesn’t. It only took finishing what I set out to do, and having it turn out exactly like I hoped it would.
If it sells it sells. If not, I’ll just keep writing. It’s what I do.
Cathy,
This is my first time here. Clicked over via a RT from Justine Musk. So glad I did.
I love the theme of this post and your dead sensible approach. I am asked similar questions about the “right” thing to do re: marketing and blogging, etc and my response is very similar. The truth is what works for one person (or even a group of people) may not work for you. There are so many variables and nuances that come into play – on your side of the equation, the audience side of the equation, the marketplace, and so on … the number of possible solutions is almost infinite.
I believe in experimentation (more formally called “testing” in marketing circles) and learning from doing. You can spend all kinds of time (and money) coming up with The Perfect Plan, and still have it FAIL. Better, in my opinion, to take baby steps – try different things – see what feels right – see what earns you the response you were hoping for – pay attention to your audience’s reactions. Everything is changing SO fast these days – even if there was a single “right” way to do something, I bet it would change about every other month. It’d be a full time job just to keep up!
Anyway – stepping off my soapbox now. Love the post. Love your style. Looking forward to more of your posts and connecting on Twitter. (@suddenlyjamie) 🙂
Cheers!
This is exactly what I needed to read today.
Thank you.
Wow. This was music to my ears. “I can’t screw it up” Thank you, thank you, thank you. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I have just felt a ten tonne weight lift off my shoulders and evaporate into mist. If I was near you, and you didn’t run too fast, I would kiss you!
Thanks for this post. THE GUT ALWAYS KNOWS.
Thanks. This is perfect.
Cathy, you are write on….pun intended. I published three books last year and just knew that if the right person read my work they would rush it to the movies….it didn’t happen ’cause those right people don’t normally read what I write! What I have done is attempt to get their wives to read my work but whether I do or not, I have made the attempt and you are so correct….after making as large a splash as you can at publish time….you need to relax and enjoy the feelings of a job well done….after all, it is our best work and dwelling on whether we become rich or not from those efforts is only self-defeating. Besides that…like you I feel a compulsion to write and feel incomplete when I am not writing…..thus after deciding which next project to write I march forward and when a subtle nudge spurs me to send one of my books to someone who might make a difference in the pocketbook, I follow up. Thank you for reminding me to relax and quit worrying about the $$….it’s the writing that truly spurs me on and needing to share either history or the future.
This post really resonated with me. I honestly feel very little stress about being published. Granted, I haven’t started down that path yet, but I know I’ll get there. I just have this faith in the future and faith in myself so I don’t worry about all the little details in between. They’ll work themselves out. 🙂
Yes! Especially the bit about connecting not being a chore.
And it’s not just true for writing either.
This is something I’ve been pondering a lot lately, as I start growing my seedling business and with my writing. I’ve been finding the courage to follow what my heart says is right for me and my business and writing and right people, rather than following someone else’s recipes.
And the courage to let go of the expectations. This is just what I needed to read today. Thanks.