Hard Truths About Writing That You Need to Hear

when you tell people that you write whether you do it as a hobby or intend to make it your career you likely gloss over some of the hard stuff those hours that you've spent staring at the blank page all of that self-doubt that goes into how people are going to receive your story and your anxiety about whether you're even a good writer or not as rewarding and as powerful as writing as a craft is it's also something that is extremely challenging on my channel i try to not stray away from talking about the hard parts of writing and the obstacles that many writers face in fact i want to help you through those obstacles and roadblocks so today i'm going to talk through some frankly hard truths about writing that i think are important for any aspiring author or writer to consider being cognizant of and aware of these things is only going to help empower you as you embark on your writing journey and become even stronger in your craft if you're interested in writing at all if you're working on a book or you're curious about the publishing industry i recommend subscribing to my channel every week i either talk about writing like in this video or i give insights into the publishing industry which is my background as a book editor while you're hitting that subscribe button go ahead and hit that like button as well it helps with the algorithm and allows me to continue growing this community i also have a freebie in the description below for all of my viewers which is a story self assessment worksheet that's going to help you assess and pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses in your own work in progress i recommend grabbing that if you haven't already it's also going to opt you into my newsletter where i release exclusive insights that you won't see on this channel so now let's dive into the first hard truth about writing which is that your story just isn't going to be for everyone many writers dread the notion that they might get bad reviews one day or they might have negative comments about a piece that they publish so much so that they might even decide not to share their work or move forward with publishing at all now being afraid of critique or criticism is actually one of the top destructive writer habits that i go through in another video so definitely check that video out if you haven't already i'll also add the link in the description below this mindset really stifles you as a writer and at the end of the day as a writer you have to be willing to accept the hard truth that no matter how polished and compelling and engaging your story is it is not going to resonate with everyone and it's not supposed to even best selling and award-winning books have negative reviews i promise you just go to the amazon page of any widely known book and you're gonna see one star reviews i think it helps to frame this from your own perspective surely there has been a book recommended in a publication or perhaps a friend recommended you a book and you picked it up and realized that you just didn't like it maybe you didn't even finish the book and that is completely fine at the end of the day writing is a subjective craft just like visual art what one person finds really moving and inspirational and beautiful is not what another person necessarily is going to find inspirational and beautiful and compelling another person just might not respond to or like it at all that's just the nature of being human and responding to art it's critical for you to embrace this fact as you embark on your writing journey and develop as a writer otherwise you are going to get stuck in this fear and anxiety around critique that is not productive the next hard truth about writing is that it is very difficult to make a full living off of writing alone this point is very important for anyone who aspires to make a full-time salary on just their creative writing unfortunately whether you choose to self-publish or go the traditional publishing route it is very difficult to earn enough money to support yourself just from book sales that's because at the end of the day book sales are quite difficult to predict and depending on whichever publishing method you go with you're ultimately only going to earn a fraction of profit on each of those book sales oftentimes it just doesn't add up to enough book sales unless the book really really takes off to allow you to really make a living keep in mind that with traditional publishing you're also going to have an advance which is a sizable sum of money that the publisher pays you for the rights to publish your book so that is something to consider as well but typically the advance is not going to be high enough to support you for multiple years it might end up being the equivalent or even more than your current salary at your job but that's a one-time payment that you typically get over many installments so it's not really going to replace the need for another source of income at least not for multiple years so that's not to say that writers don't make a living off of writing of course they do and when i worked in the publishing industry there were several authors who i worked with that wrote full time and supported their families on their writing income that said there were more cases of writers who had other jobs or other sources of income or side hustles that they did to supplement their writing income know that it is completely normal to still have a day job or a side hustle while you pursue your writing career it is not expected that you're going to drop everything to become a writer especially if you're a debut writer publishing your first book and you can certainly still see success with your writing career while balancing another type of work if you are in the process of looking to get your book published it's just important that you keep this in mind and set realistic expectations for yourself regarding what type of income you want and expect to see from your book sales that way you won't be crushed if once the book is released you don't meet a certain expectation the next hard truth about writing is that your story might need major revisions i know that for a lot of writers their worst nightmare is having to rewrite their story in fact in many cases revisions and edits can feel more grueling than the initial write itself as a structural or a developmental book editor i work with writers on the early drafts of their manuscripts to assess big picture elements this includes pacing plot development character arc point of view basically everything that makes your story your story as such i will often make revision suggestions that do drastically alter some of those elements of the story perhaps adding or omitting a character's point of view for instance or perhaps starting the story at a different point or even cutting a subplot or cutting a secondary character these types of revisions might feel daunting but with all the writers i work with i encourage them to see the potential for what the story can become and where it can go if you feel really really strongly about retaining the story in its current form without doing any type of big overhaul then you might actually be preventing your story from reaching its maximum impact and potential in my experience the most successful authors are those who embrace the revision process see the value in it and understand how it unlocks new potential and new opportunities in their work i do also believe in the mantra that writing is rewriting and if you conceptualize it that way too you'll grow in your craft the next hard truth about writing is that publishing is a time intensive process whether you decide to try to traditionally publish your book or self-publish your book it is going to take a significant amount of time effort and energy it's typically a very slow and frankly time-consuming process on the traditional end first you have to query literary agents and get an offer of representation which can take anywhere from months to upwards of a year then you're likely going to work on rewrites with your agent which could again take months then your agent is going to present the manuscript to editors at publishing houses that typically takes at least a couple of months for them to review and ultimately make a book deal offer and then once you do have a book deal the book itself is not going to be scheduled for publication for at least a year or two out so you can see how long that timeline is and for self-publishing while the timeline of publication is ultimately in your control there are a lot of things you have to do to prep your book for self-publishing you have to set up a marketing plan you have to get a cover designer you have to typically work with an editor usually multiple types of editors to get through all the different rounds of edits that you need to have a polished manuscript you need to format the pages properly for whatever platform you're publishing on you're also going to have to write the copy that goes on the book jacket as well as the online description so while you might feel ready and really eager to see that finished book in your hands believe me i know how exciting that part of the publishing process is i really recommend not rushing the publication process allow it to take the time that it needs because that is ultimately going to give you the best output and you're going to feel the proudest of your work when you give it the time it deserves i have a video that goes through the types of publishing options available to you if you are interested in potentially getting a book published so definitely check that out and now the last hard truth about writing is that there is no shortcut or secret formula to learning how to be a successful author there's not some secret key to writing an amazing best-selling book that can be repeated time and time again there's no shortcut to take to suddenly become an outstanding writer it's something that frankly you just learn by putting in the time and the effort writing is truly a lifelong craft something that you can always work on and continue to improve which is part of the beauty of it it's unlikely that you're ever going to reach a point in your writing career where you feel like you've got it all figured out just like every visual artist has their own technique for putting a paintbrush to a canvas every writer has their own technique and process for composing a story and that's why i say there really is no secret formula to writing a great story for example some authors swear by the pantsing method where they write the story as they go and they don't really know how it's going to end up when they start writing others swear by plotting where they outline every single beat in their story maybe they even follow a specific beat structure many of which have been disseminated in different how-to writing guides but i truly believe that the best and frankly only way to learn how to write is to go through it yourself embrace and develop your own individual craft and process that's what makes you an artist at the end of the day i hope this video helped you think about your craft and the writing process in a new way and helped you understand some of the hard truths that you might encounter on your writing journey let me know in the comments if you've personally thought about any of these hard truths that i went over or if there are any others that you've realized as you've gone through the writing process if you are working on your first book i recommend checking out my video where i go through things to keep in mind when writing your first book it's also going to help you get in that right mindset if you're currently in this process as always if you haven't already hit that like button and subscribe to help me grow this amazing community also don't forget that free story self assessment link in the description below i hope it helps you take your story to the next level thanks so much for watching and happy writing [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Alyssa Matesic

Views: 12,228

Keywords: authortube, writing, author, novelist, creative writing, writing advice, how to write a book, how to write a novel, books, writing tip, best writing advice, best writing tips, how to become a better writer, writing tips, self publishing, booktube, publishing advice, bad writing habits, writing habits, writing motivation, writing inspiration, writing a book, publishing motivation, publishing inspiration, hard truths for writing, traditional publishing, how to publish a book

Id: 5wgWMX5wCww

Length: 12min 28sec (748 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 17 2022