Recently, I had the great pleasure of reading a book by a new author, well new to me, that I had not read before. I made my customary remarks on Goodreads.com and was pleased to find in my inbox a response from someone who I am friends with on that sight that it was one of her favorite books where she directed me to read a free read that was located on the author’s website which continued the story.
I immediately did so and was glad to find the story.
All of this got me thinking about how much everything having to do with writing has changed in this day and age of social networking and how much I have been guilty, I think, of making some mistakes.
Daphne du Maurier who is one of my favorite authors for her book entitled ‘Rebecca’ once said: “Writers should be read - but neither seen nor heard.”
This is unreasonable in this day and age. Readers expect to hear from you and they expect to be able to reach you too. I’m not complaining. Let me clear. I LOVE hearing from my readers and to start a day with an e-mail from someone who has enjoyed my books literally makes my day.
So please keep e-mailing me.
But I realized that maybe I’m sharing too much about my writing process with all of you. You really don’t want to hear about my doubt in writing. Yes, the subject of last week’s blog or what I did today on Facebook.
Do you really want to hear that? Do you really want to hear that I suffered through writing chapter eight? I don’t want to hear that from authors I read and I find that the authors I read and really respect are not doing what I’ve been doing.
So here is my pledge. From now on you will not hear me whining about any writing issues. They’ll be my issues. I’ll keep them to myself.
I’m only going to write about things that I would want to read about and I’ve had about as much reading about writing complaints that I can take. Especially from me.
5 comments:
Actually, I think these days, being a writer also means being a part of a global community of well, other writers. There are plenty of writers I respect that talk about, guess what, writing on their social networking platforms.
I have a lot of friends who are aspiring writers and I have found when I talk about my writing and struggles or triumphs with it, they're inspired and so are other writers.
Am I other things too? You bet and I'll talk about those things too. The problem lies when you deliberately put stuff on the internet to wound other people that you know will see it, that is going past the bounds of good behavior.
The way I see it, writing is an integral part of who I am and a good portion of the people I know. We're all in this together and we all have the same struggles so it's nice to know we're not alone.
I think readers also like to know how a writing project is progressing so they can look forward to it.
Anyway, that's just my take.
Sandi,
You make really good points. You're right about the global writing community.
Thanks.
Writing is a passion but when you want to make a career of it becomes a profession like a doctor or a lawyer. It's an image you need to protray.
There are places for writers to gripe and discuss issues but I always caution against it.
"Once on the net, always on the net."
It is so easy to misunderstand things written in 2 dimension, even with emotionicons.
And if you don't think Big Brother is watching, you're wrong. They are. Agents and editors confirmed to me last week that they do look at what you blog. Not to see how good you write but to see how professional you are.
I think here at PR we've done a pretty good job at keeping it professional and fun. If I thought something crossed the line I'd pull it.
Keep up the good work! and enjoy it.
Well said, Annie. Think twice before you hit enter with any communication--public or otherwise.
I also like to keep my email available for my readers. But not just for the readers. I've heard comments about agents and editors who have gone to a blog and were frustrated, because the author didn't leave a way for them to contact them.
Besides, I love the fan mail. I love hearing from my readers. You truly are what keep me going. Knowing there are people out there who read my stories and enjoy them keeping me writing more.
The greatest joy of writing is being able to share your worlds and know that others enjoy them.
DL
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