Hi Eric! For sure, writing is not the easiest way to make a living. I love the sound of my keyboards, the sentences flowing over them, and the silence of the early morning. But no, it is not easy. I guess I never gave up because I find this connection that writing builds incredible. I think nothing can be more intimate and stronger than the relationship between a reader and a writer. But modernity has fucked everything up. We no longer have the concentration and time to enjoy a book. I, particularly, feel confused by all this, even though I believe that we need to adapt. With this memoir project, I have been thinking of dividing the chapters and delivering them in the form of letters. Yes, the old fashioned way, with stamp and letter carrier. I think that by changing the format of the book, or its delivery, maybe we can rebuild this space of exchange between the reader and the writer. But I am looking into how to make this feasible. Another idea is to put the chapters here on Hive. Can you recommend an open community for this? It would be nice to get feedback from the readers. I was participating in an online writers' group with meetings at Zoom but they stopped. I would like to have this more interaction with writers since writing is always very lonely... I saw your website and was curious about what motivates you in writing. I hope to hear from you soon. Regards, H.
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I worked at it for twenty-three years before making any headway at all. Nothing compares to the sense of satisfaction writing gives if you really love it. You're right, social media did diminish attention spans and AI will complicate things exponentially further. Creatives always find a way forward though. Giving people small doses of your story is an excellent idea, and it works. I did this digitally in 2016 with my novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, on the blockchain. It sparked sales of the physical book on Amazon because some people wanted to read ahead or wanted a memento after the serialization was over. I haven't really delved too much into communities here (except for silver bloggers) but I think that would be the way to go with your idea. The readership would be more targeted that way but I've also found that other writers aren't always quick to buy another author's books or offer a lot of feedback (I suppose because many of them are struggling themselves), so this is something to keep in mind. I've had much better luck targeting avid readers vs. other writers. If you can volunteer to have your stories read and then discussed at book club meetings it's super valuable. I've gotten my best feedback this way and often they're thrilled to meet and have a conversation with the writer. Often they buy your books too. What motivates me in writing? Quite honestly, I get depressed if I don't write, writing gives me joy even if no one ever sees it or if it doesn't make me any money. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck to you!