TUESDAY MORNING.

Status: On vacation

Doing: Writing this blog; drinking chocolate milk.

Watching: STEAMBOY; CBS Morning News.

Listening to: "Go Zombie" by Zombie Girl

Reading: Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG)


TOPIC: AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

It's been a few days since I've posted anything--with the second part of the interview later due today or tomorrow--so I thought I'd post something from my site called "Finding The Alternative To Successful Writing.* "

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(*This isn't a conversion to my way of writing and publishing, this is simply my own views, my observations--as I don't know who you are, or what kind of books you like reading. But there are still some unnamed parties out there who feel that I'm trampling on their "Holy Grail" of writing and publishing by having posted this controversial blog entry. If you feel that you are one of these such persons, please disregard this blog in its entirety.)

Here we go!

We've all heard it many times throughout the years: "In order to become published, you have to follow everyone else who is published." Or: "You have to take classes, courses, and hinge on every word from those published before you in order to become published."

But why must we do this? Why must we follow a pre-set pattern to success? Why cannot we try other avenues and methods which aren't etched in stone--thus allowing us some much needed breathing space and flexibility?

Because for some people in this profession, trying anything else is considered unproductive and wrong. It doesn't give them their 15 minutes of fame and fan adoration which easily translates into mega bucks and a comfy retirement.

They don't think that doing things differently will get them to their respective goals any quicker.

So when someone like me comes around once in a blue moon, they get defensive, they get upset, irate, pissed off, whatever words you can think of.

Why does this happen?

Because I offer a different view to success in writing which doesn't involve carbon copy authors, cloned books, fake reviews, fake applause, fake fan clubs which turn out useless chatter about how great their books are, and how much gushing they do wishing they could be just like him or her. (Gag me with a spoon! Please!)

What I offer is some piece of advice and some hard-earned experience. This doesn't make me a genuis, or some god, but rather someone who knows his shit and knows what it takes to write a book.

And to top it off, it doesn't involve going to a writer's class, taking a course to cheat your way through to that coveted (possibly crappy) contract which most likely will end your writing career--because your book sales have basically turned to shit based on your publisher's personal opinion; leaving you in a noticeable rut and your chances of further publication down the drain faster than a hooker going to Sunday confessional!

Success as a writer is a lot like having a successful blog or a successful site:

You've got to know what you're writing and write it well!

If you can't do it, why bother trying to attract the masses if all your book is going to do is make one big giant (and awful-sounding) thud! at the bookstore in that 5-month window of opportunity? (Now two months unfortunately.)

All you're going to do is start beating yourself over the head as to why you didn't take the time to write the book better, and thus save yourself and your career a butt-load of pain in the long run. You're going to start questioning yourself and really making a mess of your own self-confidence and your skills as a writer and author; bemoaning it all as a simple, "How could this have happened to me?" rant and nothing else.

Why indeed?

Because it's not you. It's the publisher. They want everything to be their way (like in the BK commercials), and everyone else can take a flying leap off the nearest suspension bridge.

So you have to play by their rules and not yours. And in doing so, there is a better than 80% chance you'll never get past your first book. And even if you manage to squeak by after the first one, there's still no guarantee that you'll have a successful career in writing and publishing. More than likely, you'll still be working that same tired, dead-end job, and your book will be spending a good chunk of its time collecting dust on the shelf.

So what's the solution?

If I told you that there was an alternative to having a successful publishing career, you'd immediately draw the conclusion that I'm full of shit or pulling your leg.

And you'd probably be right. I don't have an exact alternative which will guarantee that you'll be making millions and drawing in a ton of fans for you and your books.

What I do have is something more valuable than what the mainstream industry hasn't got: And that's knowledge. And knowledge--as they say--is power.

And it's not any kind of knowledge which you can simply pull from a book, or get off on some online web page, but rather personal experience and an insight into what makes a good book good and what makes everything else you've read in the last 10 years to be nothing more than crap.

Because they (99% of today's mainstream authors) are in it for the money. Not the book itself.

And as a result, their books don't make it as far as they should. Because they aren't allowed to go beyond their own limitations--set into place long before you and I were born (in some instances).

Why is that?

Classes and courses are supposed to be the answer to what ills the publishing and writing world. They are supposed to be the roadmap to success and fame for all would-be authors.

But in truth, they are basically useless in the overall scheme of things.

Now--before you start wanting to ream me a new one--hear me out.

Growing up, we are told that we need to get an education in order to survive. Our parents have told us this, our friends have told us this, everyone we know has told us this.

Right?

Duh!

But once we get out into the real world, we only apply maybe 5% of what we've learned in total to the problems facing us in today's society. The rest of what we learned just goes out the window, or gets stuck on the back shelf gathering dust for all eternity--never to be used.

Writing classes are pretty much the same way. Sans the collective chuminess that we all want to hold, feel, and flow around us to give us that all important ego boost, what we learn in those classes, those courses, and anything else that we pick up--essentially is a waste.

A waste of energy, a waste of time. Because you are only going to need a fraction of what you learned in those set time frames. The remainder gets totaled and left out to rot.

And your point is?

My point (for those of us paying close attention here) is that you don't need writing classes, courses, speaking engagements, and flowery "can do" attitudes of published authors--in order to have a successful writing career.

What you do need is the ability to see beyond the limitations to your own writing. Classes, courses, and so forth...they are all structured to keep you and your imagination confined to one particular mindset. That which--in itself--tells you, "No! You can't step outside the box! That's a grave no-no, and will get you rejected faster than you can imagine! No--this is the safer path to success."

In essence, you are programmed to write accordingly and you cannot deviate from that said method. So all of what you will ever write will sadly reflect that level of thinking.

Nice, eh?

So what's left?

What's left is this: In order to be successful in writing, you have to let yourself go. You have to forget everything that was taught to you from the beginning, and embark on new and more wonderous journies which doesn't involve fame, fortune, and all that cozy shit.

You have to understand...writing is so much more than just being able to write and call yourself a writer. You have to know what writing is. It isn't just a collection of words penned on a piece of paper, typed on a screen for you or anyone else to see.

It is a state of consciousness which exists for you and you only, and all you have to do is go out there and find it. But it can't be done in a classroom, or at some posh convention--listening to some stuffed shirt's version of a successful writing career--and hoping you follow in their engravened footsteps.

Because in retrospect, they know less than you do, because they've gone through all the motions set in play by someone else decades before them. (It's like that Pete and Repeat joke all over again...)

But if you can break away from the fold, go off on your own little journey of self-discovery and find out what it means to be a writer, and to write some really awe-inspiring work...?

Then you've become a success. You've found what it takes to be a writer and an author.

And it wasn't through a class, a convention, a $3 writer's course found on the internet.

It's your imagination. And if you use it more often than naught--then you're already on your way to unlocking your potential.

And through that lies your path to overall success. But you can only take it if you don't fear the unknown.