Writing/Non Fiction
No Readers? No Point In Writing?
That’s just my opinion
Thank You
First of all, thank you for reading. Thank you to those who subscribe to my emails. Thank you for your support, and for taking time to comment on my posts — it makes my day when someone reaches out. Thank you, because without readers I see no point in writing.
That’s just me of course. I know plenty of writers who write without an audience in mind — those who journal, or do it simply for the pleasure of creating, or for cathartic or other personal reasons. I, however, need a reason. Something concrete, some point. Writing takes up a large amount of my time. Time is precious. I have to justify to myself the use of that time. There are other, more important things I could do during the time I indulge myself with word-shaping. Writing (as does reading) isolates — disengages — it’s selfish in its demands of the writer. It requires concentration, no distractions, no interactions — I’m somewhere else…I can’t be here as well.
I’m my own worse critic
I’m my own worse critic. I don’t post everything I write. Those pieces which survive the hurdle of self-doubt and get an airing are few and far between. So, when they finally reach the public arena I want them to be read — A LOT! That’s why I enter writing challenges — I hope to enlarge my reading audience.
Each writer puts a lot of time and effort into producing a piece of work. Each rightly proud to present it to their reading audience. A piece which they consider, should it be judged, deserves some merit. Many who enter competitions don’t expect to win, but do so for the fun of it, or to get some experience and, for a little extra money, a helpful critique. The least the majority of the entrants expect is a ‘well done’, ‘good try’, ‘better luck next time’ — but, when they fail to make the long-list all they see is a ‘could do better’.
Being judged on one’s writing is not for the faint-hearted. When the results are published and myname is not in the ‘winners’ list it feels as if the judge has put their middle finger up to my work. Do I feel insulted? Perhaps. A little. But, inevitably, I too can see the merit in the winning piece. Jealous then? Of course. I’ve had a couple of pieces shortlisted of late, and another rated ‘Highly Commended’. I’m always pleased to be shortlisted, I’ll take that as a ‘win’ but Highly Commended makes me feel as if I’m back in school and the English teacher has given me a ‘C’: a nice try but not really worth much more. Honestly, I’d prefer just to be not placed.
Do I really care what a judge thinks or has to say about my writing? Yes, and no, I’ve probably never heard of them before the writing challenge, and I know their opinion isn’t personal. Although, I have to say, it does feel personal when I fail to make the lists again. When available, I’ve paid the extra fee and received some great feedback from judges. They’ve given me the benefit of their professional knowledge, I’ve taken it on board and attempted to improve the story/poem as they’ve suggested. All well and good but, what do I do with it then? Enter it again, somewhere else? Once a piece has deemed to fail I tend to leave it in the ‘rubbish file’.
Brilliant reads
I’m an avid reader on this platform and over the years I’ve enjoyed a wide range of writing. Everyone has their own writing voice and style, their own way of expressing themselves, their own unique take on the world both in fiction and non-fiction. I challenge myself to read at least one new book a month over the course of a year.
I’ve enjoyed reading lots of competition entries, written on many themes. One doesn’t get to read them all of course, there must be hundreds of entries, so I am not able to comment on the overall quality of the pieces judged. But, from what I’ve read, I think many of the pieces are of comparable quality, it would be hard for me to separate them into the winner-loser categories. But, of course, some have to be long-listed, then short-listed, and someone has to win — and the hundreds of other entrants have to lose — that’s a lot of sour grapes to be spat out. It’s enough to put a soul off writing for good.
I’ve read equal if not better pieces here on this platform and wonder why those writers didn’t enter their work into those competitions. Perhaps they did, and do, they just don’t shout about it. Well, you wouldn’t unless you won…would you?
Times are hard
Times are hard, and getting harder. My experience is it’s difficult to make any money writing (my earnings have dropped by two-thirds over the course of 2023) and the odds are against one when trying win a big-money competition. Many in the industry would like to see the available money spread around a little more thinly. A lot of small press magazines ask for submissions but don’t pay a fee, whilst many of the major magazines have stopped unsolicited submissions and only work with their established writers. How are newbie writers supposed to get a leg-up in the profession when so many old hands are feeling the pinch?
I’m currently 25 chapters and 50,000+ words into a romance novel — amd I wasting my time? It seems to me books by celebrities are the main ones courted by the big publishers these days. Indy publishers have limited capacity to produce each year, and there’s a tsunami of self-publishing on different platforms — how does a writer get their novel to stand out above the rest? Only by a considerable amount of time-consuming self publicising, and expensive advertising which costs money up front.
Publishers and agents demand evidence of a healthy following on social media, presumably it is through these channels that they expect the bulk of your work to sell. I spend hours on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and wonder how other people get so many interactions when only a handful of my 4500+ followers ever engage with me. Whatever it is they say or do to attract their audience has gone completely over my head. I’ve even tried being insulting to get my audience riled up enough to comment but to no avail.
Finally
Would I continue to write if I had no readers? No, I wouldn’t. Thankfully it hasn’t quite come to that yet. There are still some wins. My poem ‘The Memories I Never Had’ featured in the November, 2022 issue of the Popshop quarterly magazine. Another of my poems ‘Borrowed Shoes’ was featured in the October, 2023 editions of Writing Magazine.I never tire of seeing my work in print, and I know for certain it is being read. Several of my short stories have been included on competition shortlists during 2023 I’m still hoping for a win before the year is out!
Whatever you write, be true to yourself. Write what makes you happy. Write what you enjoy writing — your enthusiasm will shine through and your readers will pick up on it and be enthused too.
To those who enter writing competitions and, like me, come out the other side exactly as they went in, don’t listen to the doubters and critics, keep calm, carry on writing and hope someone, somewhere is reading and enjoying it.
If you’ve enjoyed reading my writing and fancy shouting me the price of a coffee then please use the link below.
