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Monday, December 7, 2015

Why Indies Are Killing Professional Writers




I hate reading.

And that statement is to me as profound as saying I hate breathing. But that is what has happened.



Then...a revelation. 

I hadn’t changed. It was the material. And I came to a conclusion:

Publishing is too easy for some people. 



Writing is hard. Time consuming. Heartrending. Getting published though is not the crucible it once was, that fire through which we must pass to arrive at Author-ville. CreateSpace and quickie e-books are killing us. It is drowning the public in horrible writing and lame storylines.

The authors are too quick to publish and doing so without proper research and grammar. Without studying. Thinking it’s a get-rich-quick scheme.

Our society believes in instant gratification, the need for acknowledgement. Hey, we all have it, thinking that widdle baby is soooo special, that everyone will love it, all 200,000 plus words. Waking dreams of New York Times Bestseller list, talk shows, and movie scripts appear. 





Rejection hurts. Criticism stings. But it is part of the journey. 





Unfortunately, too many want to bypass this most important rite.

This week, it’s about first sentences, first paragraphs. Because Authors/Writers, if you want to gain an audience, you must get this part right. Get it wrong and you might make a few bucks but no one outside of family and close friends will know your name.


An Exercise in Writing Professionally

  • Pick a favorite book. 
  • Copy or highlight the first two pages. 
  • Note the exact moment when it caught your interest. 
  • Why? Be specific.
Use this example on your first page.

Later this week, story killers and how to avoid them.



3 comments:

Sheena-kay Graham said...

But there is also the issues of books with awful writing still finding major publishers. The flood moves both ways, the bad indies just make it out there much faster. I think that idea about checking your fave books for where they hooked you is very interesting. I think I'll try that.

Liz A. said...

I finally figured out why some novels leave me feeling meh. Too much tell, not enough show. It's the way I was writing until just about a year ago. It takes time to develop as a writer (for some it takes more time than others).

Huntress said...

Sheena-kay - It's not that bad writing suddenly appeared but it has become a flood. Professional writers are found with agents, small press, AND as indies. Badly written books can be in every method of publishing too; agented, small press. AND as indies.

Liz - My first MS was wall to wall adjectives. Horrible. Time is the thing. Some people don't want to give their writing ability time to cook.