A Word After A Word

I have followed a number of indie authors for some time, amongst them Ksenia Anske and Chuck Wendig. It is wonderful to see how their careers have developed over time, and Ksenia Anske is someone who inspires me very much. Her sheer energy and enthusiasm on Twitter, her blog and on Ello keep me going even on difficult days. Her blog posts are useful, inspiring, and heartfelt.

For some time, I have been considering my options with how best to pursue a career in writing, self-publishing, blogging, and article writing. I’ve watched with great interest writers who utilise Kickstarter and Patreon, give away their writing for free (with options to donate), and know how to connect with and build a base of happy readers.

This is what we writers want – happy readers. Readers that love our thoughts and come back for more. This is the highest praise you can give a writer – your love of their words. That, in the end, is what keeps us going. That – and because we have to write.

‘Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader. He or she will recognize his or her life and truth in what you say, in the pictures you have painted, and this decreases the terrible sense of isolation that we have all had too much of.’ – Anne Lamott.

I know that every writer is different – we’ve all got our own styles and approaches, we all have things we would love to try and other things that feel awkward for us, and I’ve been researching how to keep doing what I’m doing whilst still being able to pay the bills and earn money doing something I love.

These past few months have solidified my determination to find a way to do this. I look at people like Ksenia Anske and realise that the only way to do what you love is to do it. I remember reading Ksenia’s blog when she was just starting out, and thinking what an incredible thing she was doing.

I understand that to do this writing thing, I have to be committed, have some sort of plan, and utilise tools such as Patreon, and give you, my readers, regular, scheduled updates, posts that you may (or may not!) find interesting. I want to develop this blog further, and write about the topics that matter to me, and will hopefully also matter to you. If I use Patreon, I want to make sure that I also offer extras.

This is why I need a plan – and to start committing more to my blog so that you all have more to read. I don’t imagine I’ll be someone who writes a blog post every day. I can’t keep up that kind of energy and also have the energy for writing my novels, articles and any other writing or creative project I take on. With time, I want to expand my creative offerings, but for the moment I will be focusing on writing.

For a start. I will commit to writing a blog post twice a week. I’ll begin with Mondays and Wednesdays, but this might change as I get to know what works best for me. Over time, I hope that this regularity will help me connect more to my readers, and that you will also be interested in my fiction writing – and my future non-fiction books.

I’m also happy to support other writers, artists, thinkers, and creative people – so if you want to be interviewed, want to ask me something or just want to have a conversation, let me know. I’d like to start featuring a few interviews here or spotlighting other people’s work.

Of course, I will still keep blogging about my lovely cats, writing about books I love, and about all the topics that interest me. Being true to my own voice and style is important, so you won’t find any corporate or detached writing here. I’m looking forward to this next stage of my creative endeavours and hope you enjoy it too.

‘A word after a word after a word is power.’ – Margaret Atwood.