A while ago I had been trying to get some great blogging writers to guest post here on Planet Simon and last week I got a great surprise Ari Meglen sent me a surprise guest post. I was dead chuffed! Ari runs the #MerryWriters tag game on Twitter which is really useful to meet other like minded writers. Anyway, Ari has some great words about how writers see other writers and… read the post, it’s great stuff! Go and look at her site and see what she’s up to, thanks again Ari!
Firstly, I want to say thank you to Simon for inviting me to guest post on his blog. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with all of you.
A damaging mindset
I connect with a lot more writers than I did a few years back, which is great, but I am still saddened by just how often I see and hear some writers treat others as if we are all in competition.
This is not the case and we damn well shouldn’t react as if it is. When writers see each other as competition, it is damaging.
They end up focusing on the wrong things, focusing on what their “competition” is up to, how they can “steal” the other writers’ readers and even to some extremes, create sock puppet accounts to leave nasty and negative reviews.
We’re in this together
The good thing about being a writer, is that even if we are writing the same genre, the same sub-genre as others, there is truly a space for all.
How many dystopian novels are there? How many horror stories featuring malevolent spirits? How many re-telling of fairy tales?
The answer is loads! Loads and loads of these and of each genre, of each sub-genre.
We are not really in direct competition. After all, if someone enjoys reading, say, werewolf novels, then they will look for other books in that category, not stay reading only one writers work on the genre.
So, if you write werewolf novels, you won’t “lose” customers to a rival werewolf writer, because the likelihood is that the readers will want to read more and thus end up reading yours too.
Jealousy is a bitter poison
It can be hard not to look at other writers’ work and not feel a stab of jealousy. Jealousy is very human but it’s not healthy. In times like that we need to step back, take a breath and appreciate the writer’s work.
If we are overwhelmed by how well they write their prose, we should study it, not sneer at it. We learn from each other. There is a reason the best writers are big readers. From each book we read we glean more, and it subtly affects our own writing.
So, let go of the jealousy as it does nothing to serve you, only causes a hindrance.
Why writers are your friends
Writers are some of the friendliest, most supportive people I’ve ever met. There are some genuine people who want nothing more than to cheer you on in your writing journey.
There are writers who have done the journey already and want to reach back to help you. There are writers who are still working on their story and want to push you up. There are new writers who feel inspired by your work and want to learn from you.
We aren’t in competition, we are in a community and should treat it as such. If you are treating other writers as your competition you are losing out on an incredible resource as well as some epic friendships.
Good writers support each other. We are Critique Partners, where a writer’s eye is needed to look over the manuscript to catch things before a reader sees it. Writers are fountains of knowledge on different techniques, whether that is for outlining, for structures, for grammar etc.
Writers aren’t jumper cables… don’t use them only when you need help
I’ve sadly known a few writers who very much had the “writers are my competition” mindset, up until they needed a Critique Partner or an ARC reader and starting sniffing around other writers trying to get assistance.
Please don’t do that. Treating your fellow writers as if they are to be beaten in the arena of book sales and then suddenly being nice when you need a favour is pretty bad etiquette.
Foster goodwill with other writers because we are a collective (not because you will want their assistance down the line). We are a collective because we understand each other.
We know the feeling of staring helplessly at a blank page. We know the feeling of riding that rollercoaster of “this is my best work yet” then “this is just awful”. We know the crushing sensation of someone who says something horrid about our work.
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So, support your fellow writers, be their cheerleaders, buy their books, tell people about them and support their journey. For we are all in this together.
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This is a great eye opener. Thanks.
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It is a great post… I wish I had Ari’s talent!
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I have been on twitter and facebook for years. I left facebook due to the drama. Initially, many writers were helpful with tweets, etc. Now, I noticed many of them are part of cliques or groups and leave other writers they do not like out. There are many writers who are kind and many who think they are better than everyone since they won an award or it’s just their way. One writer on twitter only retweets me when having a free amazon giveaway. Some writers I’ve known for years do not return tweets. WordPress vs. twitter is also a strange thing. If I post something on WP, sometimes I do not want to share it on twitter. Than I have ALL the folks on WP sharing it on twitter thinking I am going to RT them for doing this. If I want to share a WP post, I will do it on my own. It is a rarity to find another writer with whom you are on the same page. I enjoyed the post and truly wish more authors were friendlier and helpful. I do my best to help when I can and have health conditions and can only do so much. Thanks for following and sharing. Wishing you many blessings in your life and work.
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I don’t think I could bother with writers who are snooty as you say. Where I hang out in Twitter and WordPress everyone has been lovely. I think most writers are to be honest.
I don’t know how to stop people tweeting stuff you don’t want tweeted though… It’s writers bring nice I’m afraid. Thanks for coming by and the great comment and I’ll see you about here and on Twitter 😀
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Really love what she says and how she says it Simon, she makes a lot of sense .. coz she agrees with my point of view 🙂
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Well then that will make sense 😉
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indeed it does, fellow writers are our companions on the road to better skills even if we don’t intend to publish 🙂
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Of course they are… 😀
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Excellent post. We are all in this together.
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We are indeed, thanks for commenting 😀
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Reblogged this on Ari Meghlen – Writer | Blogger | Bad card player and commented:
Sorry for the delay, we have bad weather here and it’s giving me a bad connection.
Anyway, I was recently given the opportunity to guest post over on Planet Simon. Big thanks to Simon for the invite. So here is my post 😊
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Always a pleasure to have you on Ari 😀
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Thanks Simon 😀
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😀😀
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I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve learned a lot since I started communicating with my fellow writers. I was never in the mindset that they were competition, but I had a hard time opening up.
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I agree, you kind of feel weird and like no one good through what you do
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Thanks for reading Mikki. I know what you mean, I struggled to reach out to writers at the beginning but I’m so glad I did. I’ve made some wonderful friends
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I’m lucky to work with a lot of other writers and we’re all very supportive of each other’s work, which is so nice!
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That is great that you are all so supportive of each other. We need more writers who come together like this. 😊
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We need to make sure we all know each other… Your merry writer game is great for that 😀
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It’s really good to be in that position 😀
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Be careful with Ari, she steals Halloween candy.Trust me, I have reliable sources. 😉
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I thought that was normal… 😉
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Libel! I don’t steal candy…i liberate it. 😉
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Do you liberate… And consume? 😉
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it would be wrong not too 😀
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Awesome, well said! I agree especially when you are just beginning the journey as a writer. Thanks for the encouragement!
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Thanks Huntress, I think in any journey is best to work with others rather than against. I always like to encourage but it was Ari that wrote it 😀
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Thanks for reading, I am glad you found it encouraging.
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Great perspective
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Thanks 😀
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Thanks do much 😊
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We are a community of fine writers to assist and cheer them on. Well said.
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We are indeed and assisting each other should build us all up 😀
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Thanks so much for reading. Yes we are and it’s the best way to be 😊
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Great essay Simon. I don’t do a lot of collaboration. Maybe I should rethink my position on that.
Kathy Summers.
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Maybe you should, your never know what could happen. Do you have others to work with?
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Hi Kathy, thanks for reading. Glad you liked it.
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