November was National Novel Writing Month. In the
last few years people have been encouraged to pen 50,000 words in the 30-day
month, averaging 1,667 words per day.
Last year, out of 325,142 official global participants, 58,917 reached
their goal by November 30. Can we simply
train ourselves to write by the numbers and produce books this way?
On
the one hand, I think it’s great to set a goal, break it up into smaller steps,
and to steadfastly tackle such an enormous project. On the other hand, inspiration can’t be
forced or scheduled. Some days, all you
want to do is write and the words flow.
Other days, as much as you love writing, the book project could seem
like a chore.
Writers
need goals and deadlines to force themselves to take direction and ownership of
their creation. But the question is:
What’s the right pace for you?
Authors
can write at a pace that’s faster than they can keep up with. Books need to be edited, promoted, and
marketed. If a writer was left to just
write and not tend to other aspects of selling the book, he or she could write
hundreds of books. But, alas, most
writers have other jobs, busy lives, and they must tend to their books so they
will sell and find their readership.
Most
writers have a variety of stories inside of them, but they tend to write with a
certain style and theme that connects their books. Many writers know which book is their best
one. They don’t have to think about it.
It could be their first book or some other title, but they know which
one stands out to them. So it appears, though writers just want to write, the
real goal is to write the one masterpiece and then market the heck out of it.
Easier
said than done.
Authors
struggle with:
·
Starting
– and finishing – books
·
Making
time to market their published books
·
Properly
researching their marketplace
·
Applying
for awards and recognition
·
Locating
a literary agent
·
Finding
a publisher
·
Selling
their foreign rights, movie rights, audio rights, etc.
Authors,
in order to be successful in the long run, may have to write less, but
research, market, and brainstorm more.
Keep in mind this is one theory, and most writers couldn’t stick to this
because they are naturally drawn to spend any spare moment writing. Still, if authors can discipline themselves
to write fewer books but really go all out to make each one a success, they would
likely come out ahead from their current approach of flooding the market with
books that don’t get a lot of marketing support. They just hope people will discover their
book, fall in love with it, and champion it to others. But writers need to get enough people to read
it and then convert others.
Although
many writers live their whole life to write the one book that they believe is
great – and that garners critical praise, wins awards, sells like hotcakes, and
makes an impact on the lives of its readers – many will write books as if they
find oxygen, gold, and water in them, as if life’s necessities can be consumed
only by writing.
Writers
love to write.
They
have a lot to say.
They
have love to give and passion to share.
Writers
want recognition and praise.
They
want a pay-off in the form of not just money, but fame.
Writers
want to know they make a difference – and that a piece of them will live beyond
their days.
Will
you set out to write a book in a month?
You could turn out a dozen books in 2016, but will you give enough
attention to any of them to become a success?
Maybe the compromise is to write many books but publish only a few of
them. Build them up and make it easier
to then release additional titles. Or
write just one book and keep editing and rewriting it until it’s perfect – and
then market the heck out of it.
The
choice is yours.
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