Tag: Writing Career

Writing

Don’t Sabotage Your Writing Career Before It Takes Off – Part 4

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Sticking To One Genre Of Writing

Be open to writing other things besides novels. It’s interesting to read and listen to some writers whose basis for measuring other writers’ writing career depends on published novels while leaving novellas, short stories and poetry behind for those whom they term ‘amateur writers.’

Writing, Writing Career, Short Stories, Stories, Novels, Poetry

 

A ‘writing career’ is first and foremost all about writing and earning a living through your writing. Then the second aspect of your writing career is choosing to specialize. Focusing on one area narrows your reach. Some writers struggle to acknowledge themselves as one because they have don’t have published novels in their catalogue thereby underrating their creative channels. Read more…

Writing

DON’T SABOTAGE YOUR WRITING CAREER BEFORE IT TAKES OFF – PART 2

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That Single Title Won’t Make You Rich

Here’s the thing, very few authors make money on their first book. In the writing life, a year is nothing. Writing, writing career, published, books, titles

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You did it. Finally, you’ve published that book. Your sweat, blood, and gore went into it. Now it’s time to sit before the fireplace with a glass of wine and rub your palm in anticipation of counting all the dough that will roll in.

This is somewhat embarrassing, but most times our first book and I daresay several titles after hardly causes the Richters scale to shift in our bank balance.1

I have to admit that after I published my first poetry book I had high expectations in my bubbly dream world, but soon enough, reality slapped me awake.1 Quitting one’s hustle and day job was not going to happen quickly.

Anticipating that you’ll be paying bills with your book advance and ROI from your book may not happen by the end of the year or even many years to come.

You might even strike gold and have an agent sign you on, but the challenge of successfully shopping it around and selling it is still a huge probability.

In some cases, when the agent is unsuccessful, they drop you, which is devastating to any writer. As a matter of fact after such unpalatable news, some writers hibernate from writing another word for several years.

Slogging away on a book and revising it for months on end is hard work and the rejections simply make the process discouraging and leaves you with the feeling that you are just wasting your time.

Here’s the thing…read more

Writing

Don’t Sabotage Your Writing Career Before It Takes Off

jacquelineobyikocha

Sabotaging Your Writing Career Before It Takes Off

Writing, Learn Rules, Writing Career, Mistakes, Memoir

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Yes, we all learn from our mistakes, however, we don’t have to make all the mistakes before we learn. We can equally learn from the mistakes of others.

In the pursuit of our writing careers, there are mistakes that have the potential to truncate it even before it begins. I am not excited to say that I have made a good number of them and still working to dig myself out of my errors.

I am equally ashamed to say that I fall into the category of writers with piles of half-finished stories and essays yet to be polished and sent to potential publishers.

The great thing is that though these mistakes might derail your quest for a while, with the right approach, you can get back on track.

Writing ‘A Pipe Dream.’

I’ve met a lot of would-be writers who are either ‘working on a book,’ or planning ‘to start working’ on one – when they can find the time – and most of them have worked on that elusive book of theirs for years and years that they’ve even forgotten what the story was about in the first place.

Interestingly, they don’t share their attempts with anyone. They also hardly bother to read guides, blogs or articles that could help to improve their writing career. If you are such a closet writer who fails to show your work to anybody and unable to compare it to what’s obtainable out there, you are living in that highly deceptive fantasy land that your work is fabulous.

For some reason, lots of nonfiction writers think that writing a how-to book, a memoir or an autobiography is easier to write than fiction and this is far from the truth.

Writing nonfiction requires careful structuring — especially a memoir. Read More...

Writing

Overcome Your Writing Fears – Essential Writer’s Tips

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Essential Writer's Tips, Writing, Overcome Writing Fears, Writer

Writing Fears

What are your greatest writing fears?

Writing is not for the faint of heart and to build a successful career as a writer is not without its’ fair share of anxieties.

At various points in their pursuit, most writers have experienced writing fears, so this is not a challenge peculiar to you.

I remember when decided I to follow my passion and started writing actively, I had bubbles of anxiety in my stomach for days, I lost several nights of sleep wondering what made me think that I was good enough for anyone to want to spend their time reading my words.

Coupled with that, I enrolled for a creative writing course and as much as I tried not to take the instructors critic to heart, I never looked forward to hearing from her and was literally developing an ulcer from anguish. After much angst, I decided to put my anxiety to an end, to believe in myself and chose to face my fears.

Your fear might be one or even all the following: READ More…

Life · Personal story · Quotes For You · Weave that Dream · Writing

If Tomorrow Comes…personal

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Recently, I had a chat with a friend and we spoke about passion. Since we had that chat, I have been mulling over bits and pieces of our conversation and chewing on the fat of things.Chase the vision

During our chat, she did not out-rightly deride my passion about writing and public speaking, but in her opinion, she thinks that it should be classified as a hobby, since I was not yet making pots of money from either.

In her eyes, I was not yet a serious writer because there is no World acclaimed bestseller title under my belt.

As far as she is concerned, I am writing just for the pleasure of writing. At this point I had my tongue in my cheek trying to rein myself in from saying the first thought that fleeted through my mind, which was @#$#$%$##%!

Calmly, I asked her how much pleasure she was deriving from her work?

If she was that ecstatic about it, why is it that she moans over her job every time we speak, wishing she had the funds to take a bold step away from the rat race bandwagon.

She had wished over a 1,000 times that she had the guts to pursue her desires to own an events management outfit, but like I had equally given myself the leeway of excuses in the past, she had a million reasons why she couldn’t get started in that direction.

I asked her what her plans were in the immediate, interim and long term, towards achieving her goal, but to my surprise, she had made absolutely no concrete plans in the realization of her dreams.

….And she calls me a dreamer!

Her hope is that tomorrow will come armed with all that she would require to achieve her dreams and build her castles in the passing wind.

I told her that ”Tomorrow will never come if we don’t get hold of today!”

I now cheekily told her that I am absolutely pleased with what I am doing at the moment and though I did not give her a detailed breakdown, I drew a sketchy idea of my writing prospects and aspirations which I believe will come to pass even if it delays.

In the meantime, I told her that I was willing to make certain sacrifices to achieve my dreams, since I had also learnt that some of the material expenses which we load on ourselves were absolutely unnecessary. We can live very well without some of these things for as long as is necessary.

I have heard tales and jokes of hungry artists/writers. I have heard about all the hard mental work endured for passion in return of peanuts.

…Then again, I have heard and have experienced first hand, the irrefutable, bone deep pleasure that a true writer derives from answering their call and I then realize the true meaning of the morbid African proverb which says that”we cannot because of the fear of death avoid going to war, if that war means that we get to live the life that we deserve.”

In some ways, she was right that I am not yet making anything out of my vision and dreams.

Now, it is time to write the vision, take the vision and run with it.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha