my income from my writing. I am not famous. I'm not by any means a great writer. I just finish things and somewhere, somehow find the courage to share it with other people.
It's not my success that certain people envy. It's my audacity and the joy I feel doing something that I LOVE. And do love it. I want to climb the highest mountain and shout it into the cosmos.
I love writing!
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| Shhh! Don't tell anyone! |
Today, I want to share all the reasons that people who write or want to write should encourage others to pick up their pens and pencils, turn on their desktops, their laptops or phones and be creative with the written word...
1. Writers are readers
This is not news, but it's the number one reason to share this post with other writers. We all started as readers. Making the transition from a consumer to a producer of any creative product should be celebrated. Congratulating a new writer on joining our wacky clan is applying the golden rule in its most fun and joyful way. And it gives us a chance to reaffirm our own choice to write.
2. New writers love newly published authors
There comes a moment when someone who has decided to write decides to see how other writers started their careers. They are the smart ones. They are the ones to watch. They will spread their writing. They are willing to learn. They are most likely to buy your book if you're still pretty much unknown.
3. Any writer can inspire another writer
Inspiration doesn't end when a person starts to write. Even someone who has been writing for years can catch their second wind when they find a fresh perspective that speaks to them. Writing is communication. It is fluid and changing. To reject new writing and new voices, is to eliminate the single most powerful source of inspiration. Don't do that!
4. Many writers support each other
In our groups, we find the knowledge and wisdom to hone our craft. And there is nothing that teaches us more than sharing what we have learned. That is how it works. We learn. We teach. New writers make take and interpret our knowledge and run with it. They may provide valuable reflection on weaknesses or the misconceptions that hold us back.
5. Writers promote the reading culture
And there it is. People could watch movies or play video games. They can cook, travel, hunt, sew, fish or collect bottle caps. But, it takes both readers and writers to promote the reading culture. Books are shared between readers. And writers are just readers infected with an incurable sickness for which stories are the only cure whether they consume them or create them.
That's why the world needs more writers.
I know it's easy for some people to feel threatened by other writers' talents, especially when they have made more progress in a shorter time. I understand that writers feel overwhelmed trying to make their work stand out in the electronic whirlpool of online publishing.
But, it is a fallacy that less writers and less books written will make people currently writing more likely to succeed financially as writers. Imagine a world with only a few writers. Very few people will enjoy a their meager selection of books, because they are the only books. Books are not a commodity. You can't monopolize writing. It's not fuel, although I know it feels like that sometimes.
Less writers means an impoverished writing culture.
Now, don't tell anyone, but when I first started writing, I helped organize an anthology of secrets for new writers written by new writers who had just discovered these secrets and were actively benefiting from them. These aren't the glossed over hindsight of the highly successful - although they were often the original source. These are secrets in action. Proven and pragmatic.
Download a FREE copy at Smashwords and don't forget to support new writers!
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