If any readers of my blog are not yet aware of Kristen Lamb’s blog and book, We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide To Social Media, here is a strong recommendation to make yourself aware.
Aspiring Writer: one who sits alone for hours, typing her bleeding heart through her keyboard onto a blank page while dreaming of her novel being displayed on the front table of her local Barnes and Noble, or better yet, the one on 5th Avenue.
Emerging Writer: one who sits alone for hours typing at her computer but has learned not to use words like “bleeding heart”; one who follows sage advice, creates a platform, interacts with professionals and constantly works to become a better writer.
At any stage of the writing game—and according to Paul Auster it just gets worse as one becomes more successful—it seems vital, despite JD Salinger’s approach, to maintain active and healthy communication with other people. Writers, readers, agents, publishers, friends, they all play a part in sanity. (That’s sanity, not insanity.) Kristen Lamb is a no-nonsense guide to getting one’s name out there and preventing the feeling of being a lone writer. (That is, a writer who’s alone, not the only writer in the world.)
One of my core values is persistence. Kristen’s blog post today is about luck vs. persistence. This ought to separate the “aspirers” from the “emergers.”