I published my second book six years ago, but only now can I see some clear lessons from that experience. Since then, I’ve been involved in many other projects (most of them not related to writing), and I think that’s why now have a much better perspective to understand and “judge” what the book has meant, and what it can eventually mean in the future.
I need to admit that this reflection was ready to be done some time ago and that it would not probably happen if the pandemic wouldn’t have taken me to write regularly again, this time at Medium. During the last three months, my writing productivity has been reasonably high for a non-full-time writer (I published one article every two days). I came back to a habit that led me to publish my first and second book: observing reality, putting pieces together to understand it better, and converting these ideas into a text. In most cases, I did it for myself to read more, dig deeper, have much better knowledge, and be proficient in what I was talking about. In a word: to be coherent when discussing, when teaching, when living.
But no. Why I write is a different story. It is relevant and has to do with the lessons I’m digesting now, together with you, and for all of you who can take value for them. But my focus now will be the surprising discovery that this reflection brought to me.
You’ll probably know about the ideas I’m going to highlight. It’ll be ok if you nod. I’ll be glad if you see yourself in them. And I’ll be especially happy if it’s a bit of a discovery for you too, as it is being for me.
Write just for the sake of writing
Writing is hard enough to put you in the mode of pleasing someone you don’t even know. It’s ok to entertain your audience and try to put in their shoes when writing, but it’s impossible to understand what everybody’s looking for. You will not get it, so forget it. Write the best piece you think you can deliver, and give it to the world if you want to. People will do the rest if they have to.
On the other hand, if you don’t enjoy writing, forget it. Unless you are a best-seller author and you need to publish a new book because you signed a contract and earned good money upfront, don’t force yourself to write. Maybe some people can do it. I don’t. I have to feel the need to tell a story, as writing is too hard a task to do it as an obligation. Readers will know it pisses you off.
And finally, don’t write for the stats, for the claps, not even for the money. It is nice, of course, but it works the other way around: when you keep writing to have fun, results will eventually come. And if they don’t, at least you had fun.
If you think it needs improvement, it sure does
Do not give anyone something you would not read, or you’re bored to read once and again. If you skip reading parts of your writing, it means not even you respect your words. I’m not talking here about not leaving a text because of a search for perfection; it’s just that if you see some things you would do better, please do it before someone else needs to be annoyed to put their eyes on that mistake you already detected.
Results are not in your hands; effort is
To my experience, publishing a book is the result of the alignment of many variables, which are often almost impossible to align — a combination of luck, opportunity, context, someone else’s objectives, serendipity. If you write, it’s your job to try to make this available for as big an audience as possible, of course. So unless you think it’s too personal to see the light, your art should be shared. And that implies your effort, to make it good quality, and to find a way for people to have access to it. Forget about all the rest; it’s too complicated to control.
#personal-development #writing-tips #writing #lessons-learned #publishing #deep learning
