To Replace What's Been Lost
At the risk of looking backward, almost always fruitless in the publishing industry because of its evolving nature and relentless pursuit of the next great buzz, pause with me to consider all that emerging writers have lost in the past year.
Because I come from the world of romance writing, my experience leans heavily on the vast support network the genre has always enjoyed. Just a decade ago, national and regional conferences offered craft learning, networking, and visibility through contests. Local chapters met once per month and presented successful author and field-expert speakers for research purposes. Through these meetings, writers often met critique partners who lived close and established deep support groups. From these networks, writers had access to regular streams of feedback, nurtured each other on the journey, and assisted others past the traditional publishing house gatekeepers.
And here we are.
Dozens of experts online take money from dreamers, promising effective methods on how to sell books but not how to make sure the books are good. Romance Writers of America, once epicenter of the romance writing world and one of the only writing organizations to admit pre-published writers, imploded last year and unearthed every local chapter and its network along with it. Crowded online classes offer quality content, but rarely offer one-on-one, page-level discussion with the instructor.
Add social distancing due to the pandemic and even the best allies to a beginning writer - critique partners - struggle to stay connected.
For the foreseeable future, unseasoned writers are marooned on an island. Sure, there's a soaked and dog-eared copy of Chris Vogler's The Writer's Journey stuck in the sand, but with no way to apply, to synthesize, to brainstorm, to speak with someone on a page-by-page level, hope seems dashed against the sharp rocks where Amazon reviewers are rumored to lie in wait.
Evolving writers need help to fill the void, to replace the support that has been lost, to restore dreams. Sound expensive? You may be surprised.
Tomorrow, we talk money.
Day 4: Trading Your Coffee Habit For Success: Coaching is More Affordable Than You Think.
