Four Necessary Parts Of Being A Writer

Being in the business of writing and succeeding at it requires every author to do three things simultaneously. Do you know what those three things are?

When I first started out writing fiction at university, my thoughts were completely occupied by the creative impulses I followed in composing my stories. Listening to my Muse, if you will. My professors were primarily responsible for suggesting grammatical, syntactical and thematic changes to my manuscript to make it read better–and possibly sell better.

Little did I realize then that my mentors had temporarily preempted three parts of my job as a writer. One was their impartial editing, and the other two, marketing my work and distributing it.

Most writers–myself included–think only about writing the story. Are the characters well developed; are the settings descriptive enough or do they have too much detail; does the dimension of time flow correctly from one scene to the next, and throughout the story overall.

The problem with that line of thinking is: When you’re done with the writing, what are you going to do with it? Will it end up sitting in the drawer with your other stories, only because you haven’t devoted any of your time to the business aspects of your talent?

Or will you choose to block out specific periods of time during the week to handle things like impartially editing your work–killing your babies, as they say–or the marketing and sales of your books or articles, and finding distribution channels for your published materials.

The writer’s life is much like the Vitruvian Man image shown at the right. The writer is the head or brain,  his/her works are the body; the arms and legs are in turn, editing, marketing, sales, and distribution.

The four factors that influence the publication and ultimately the success of your works are directly connected to you, the author. The business of writing is a balanced system; if you let any one part perish from neglect, the other parts will eventually wither and fade away as well–including your talent as a writer.