Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sometimes I Wanna Be Ignorant

Maybe a year and a half ago--two years?--I went on a self-induced blog hiatus.

Not writing blogs, but reading them. The publishing ones anyway. Right now publishing is changing a ton, that's clear.

And I was getting bogged down in it. I wasn't getting enough writing done, I wasn't thinking enough about the book I was working on. I was spending the day bouncing from new blog post to new blog post, while waiting for inspiration to strike.

And it never did.

So finally, I just stopped reading. It was freeing. I didn't know the trends in publishing--or at least they weren't readily apparent to me. I didn't need to think as much about the Kindle or e-Book publishing.

All I needed to think about was my book. And that was good.

Why?

Because I wrote the book I wanted to. I didn't write a book to fit into a trend or a genre. I didn't worry about how I was going to promote the book--BECAUSE IT WASN'T DONE.

It's better to be somewhat ignorant. You can do what you want. You aren't influenced.

Learn about the biz later.

Write now. It's worked for me.

But I want to hear from the peanut gallery. How do you feel? Do you need to know everything before you write? Or would you rather know nothing about publishing?

5 comments:

Karen Denise said...

I think there needs to be a healthy mix. I keep abreast of what's selling and for how much. I keep up with which agents are making most of the deals and to which editors, but I try not to drive myself crazy with trends and shaping my writing around it. This is a great post because sometimes we forget to just write and if we don't do that, knowing the rest is pointless. So good luck with the writing!

Dana King said...

I know exactly how you felt. I was reading over twenty blogs a day, trying to stay on top of everything in case I caught a break. I eventually burned out on it, and didn't even feel like writing anymore, let along try to get published. I took a couple of months off from writing, and have cut way back on my blog reading, and I'm much happier (and more well balanced) for it.

Jay Stringer said...

I don't want to be thinking about the business or the market while i'm writing. That's fatal.

But i am far more interested these days in the changing market, and the technology involved, because i think to ignore that is also fatal.

But i think you're 100% right, don't let one cloud the other. Write what you want to write, worry about the rest another time.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I shouldn't be reading this now. Blogs are the new cigarettes and probably just as lethal for your eyes and brain.

Barbara Martin said...

There are times I prefer to be ignorant of the publishing trends, and like you I've spent too much time blogging and not enough time writing. After reading this I'll be going back to my WIP.