So, apparently the blogs I’ve been writing haven’t been posting to the site…… Man…
Totally crazy, right? Brilliant posts, vanished into thin air!
Definitely not some lame excuse…
Certainly not contingent on the fact that I just finished watching the third season of House of Cards. What a strange coincidence…
But honestly, apart from catching up on a certain too-serious Netflix soap opera, I’ve been kinda busy with a promotion at work, and prepping for a writer’s conference. Which has me thinking.
A writer is not an author, though an author may be a writer. I like the writer-hat, but it’s just one hat among many. It’s interesting getting used to wearing them all. An author can be any of the following at any given time: salesman, businessman, writer, advocate, comedian, internet personality, guru, dishwasher, matador just to name a few.
But there’s an interesting transition to behold.
I create. I write. I drink coffee and sweat over the keyboard and hope my words aren’t garbage.
But now that work is primarily done. As “done” as any creative process can be, though I could change it eternally. Now I find myself in the unfamiliar position of the salesman, purveying my product, grasping at the coat-tails of passers-by. I wrote and re-wrote a sales proposal a few weeks ago… and felt utterly out of my depth. Demographics and interviews and blurbs have usurped plot-lines and twists and descriptions for residency in my cluttered head.
Needless to say, juggling the two roles is going to be difficult. They’re two sides of the author-coin. Why, cruel world, do you insist I use both hemispheres of my brain?!? ARGH.
It’s easy to want to go back to creation. Because I’m actually decent at that. But instead I need to learn how to market myself (a concept I’ll never fully get used to) in a way that will bring attention to my creation. So, a word of advice to myself, and you, if you’re listening, is to work on the weaknesses to make yourself better.
Holy cow, it’s good to be back.
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Don’t steal my words. They’re mine. Zachary Barnes 2015©
A very interesting (and remarkably true) outlook on the position of “writer”! It really is insane to think of the many hats we have to wear in our ‘careers.’ Best wishes to you as you set forth in the world to “sell” your babies. Daunting, but rewarding. I look forward to reading updates. 🙂
I’m a good person, all I do is sell my babies… But yeah, all joking aside, it’s an interesting world where one must “busk” the products of their creativity.
I couldn’t agree more. And please, continue to sell your babies. ;D