33
10
Status, worry, and comparison
are ways to madness, not victory.
One of the biggest obstacles of all comes from compari-
son with other writers and worrying about your status in
the publishing world. This is the way to ultimate mad-
ness. The writing life is crazy enough without you mak-
ing it worse on yourself.
I don’t feel in competition with other writers.
Because I don’t write about the same things as
any other writer that I know of does.
—Truman Capote
Best-selling novelist Tess Gerritsen has the follow-
ing advice, which she graciously gave me permission to
reproduce here:
stop checking your amazon index
Yep, that means you. Unless you’re checking the effec-
tiveness of a particular promotional tool (in which case
you may want to see how the index responds), you really
Z4273i_008-038.indd 33Z4273i_008-038.indd 33 9/24/09 11:20:33 AM9/24/09 11:20:33 AM
34
shouldn’t be looking at yourself on Amazon at all. In
particular, avoid looking at the reader reviews of your
books. Some of those readers are nasty, vicious people,
and why do you want to torture yourself by reading a
lousy review of your latest book? Sure, you may fi nd a
really great review, and that’ll make you feel good … for
about an hour. But a lousy review will leave you feeling
miserable for a week. You wouldn’t volunteer to get your
fi ngernails wrenched off with pliers, would you? So why
let anonymous readers torture you on Amazon?
stop googling yourself
For the same reason, I told you not to look up your own
books on Amazon. Sure, maybe you’ll fi nd a website that
says nice things about you. But you might also fi nd a site
that calls you the spawn of Satan. So don’t even look.
Because ignorance truly is bliss.
learn to say no
Writers are often told to jump at every chance to pro-
mote ourselves. So we accept every invitation to speak
at libraries, schools and writers’ conferences. We’ll travel
a thousand miles, take three days off from our writing,
to smile at a gathering and sell only thirty books. When
you’re starting off and still trying to establish your name,
these are probably good investments of your time. But
you have to learn when enough is enough. Don’t let the
Z4273i_008-038.indd 34Z4273i_008-038.indd 34 9/24/09 11:20:33 AM9/24/09 11:20:33 AM
35
gigs take over your calendar. Don’t let them eat too deep-
ly into your writing time.
exercise
Last autumn, I sprained my knee while hiking down a
mountain. For two months, I could barely walk, much
less hike. Stuck at home, I got grumpy and fl abby. Then
winter set in, and the roads got icy, prolonging my in-
activity. Finally I got fed up with how listless I felt and
made one of the best investments of my life: I bought a
treadmill. It sits right here in my offi ce, and it’s my new
best friend. First thing in the morning, I turn on NPR on
the radio, climb onto the treadmill, and take a brisk up-
hill walk for half an hour. When I’m done, I feel pumped
and ready to dive into my writing. And I can stop feeling
guilty about my sedentary job.
I think comparisons are odious.
—John Madden
chase other interests
Indulge your hobbies. Feed your curiosity. Life isn’t just
about meeting deadlines and seeing another one of your
books on the stands; life is also about doing and learn-
ing cool stuff. We get about eight decades on this earth.
That seems like a lot of time, but as I get older, I realize
how precious little time that really is. Although I spend
Z4273i_008-038.indd 35Z4273i_008-038.indd 35 9/24/09 11:20:33 AM9/24/09 11:20:33 AM
36
most of the year racing to meet my book deadlines, I’m
also learning how to read ancient Greek. I’m trying to
read through my copy of Herodotus, which sits on my
nightstand. I’m trying to memorize a Chopin Ballade
on the piano. Probably none of these hobbies will end
up being used in a book, but why does everything have
to be about the writing?
Z4273i_008-038.indd 36Z4273i_008-038.indd 36 9/24/09 11:20:33 AM9/24/09 11:20:33 AM
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.