Time for some Honesty (Patreon)

When someone asks me for advice about writing, I always start with a question of my own. “Why do you write.”

I do that, because I won’t answer the same question the same way if it comes from someone looking to land on the best seller lists, rather than someone who writes simply for the sake of putting a story out there.

Knowing why you write goes a long way toward minimizing the stress that can come with writing.

Recently I’ve realized that while I keep telling people I want to earn a living writing, that isn’t the answer to why I write.

I write because I like it. I write because I have stories I want to get out of my head. I write because if I don’t, I’m pretty sure I will go insane. Publishing my books, that’s a side effect of my writing, not the reason for it. I was writing before there was an indie market, I was writing knowing no traditional publishers would ever touch my stuff, Hell, I was writing before there was an internet for me to share my stories with.

So yeah, the publishing thing, that’s not what drives my writing. At least it should be.

I have been letting the publishing drive some of my writing, and it’s been affecting my mood. Not overly, but noticeably.

So, what will I do about it?

For starter, I’m not going to let sales numbers bother me. I already do my best, but every time I am among other writers and they go on about how they made millions last year, I’m going to remind myself that isn’t why I write.

Another thing I’m going to do going forward is not let the ‘need to publish’ pressure me. I have my queue of novels and series to write, and they will be written and published in their own time.

I might even start publishing new series on sites for free before publishing them. I don’t know. If I can distance myself from the ‘need to publish,’ I might be able to find other venues where I can show my work.

Another thing I might do is create more targeted patreons. Places where only a specific genre of story will be shown, so the people interested in that won’t have to wade through other stuff they aren’t interested in. I already have one for the LitRPG stuff, and we will see how that goes.

If you want to take a look, it’s https://www.subscribestar.com/s-st-pierre

If you want to look at the litRPG without paying, it’s https://www.royalroad.com/profile/168717

And that’s it for now, so I’ll see you on the next one.