Midweek Thoughts 11/29/2017

I'm thinking how things aren’t always as they seem.

You find some writers fluff themselves up with accolades and other “achievements,” yet they never appear to be anywhere. 

I bring this up not to put those artists down, but to put some at rest when it comes to how they perceive themselves.

I co-host a radio show, The Deadman’s Tome podcast. I like to think of it as a literary program meets sort of shock jocks, as they are called. We laugh, express our opinions, and interview guests—mostly authors.

One week we had on Jonathan Maberry. What a show that was. I came ready with questions to ask. And even a guy who has had as much success as Jonathan didn’t sweat the small things. I asked what he thought about followers, and he said he just follows who he wants and it’s really just to start conversations. He actually follows more than follows him. (Which proves a point about that following scam a lot are doing where people you know nothing about have tens of thousands of followers and only follow a few hundred.)

Then there’s how he doesn’t even much look at the Amazon reviews. He pushes his head above all that nonsense and takes care of the important thing, writing, social media and the readers.

My point is, you have people starting out on this journey of creation (no matter what you're creating), who get a different picture from all the writers fluffing up what they are. And these fluff writers can’t be bothered with anyone below them. You look at their accounts and you’d think they were a best selling author with millions of awards, when Jonathan Maberry and Stephen King could care less about those things. Sure, having a large following is cool. But does that make you write better? Does that give you ideas for new stories?

No.

So don’t worry. You’re just as important. Keep your head high and don’t focus on the nonsense. And above all, don't give up. 

WCM 

Let me know what you think on Twitter: @WCMarchese or in the comments below. 

Talk soon.