6 Ways to Guarantee No One Remembers You As a Writer

The way I see it, you technically can ignore these points to focus solely on money. (Admittedly, you do need some of that). OR, you can take a little risk, define your voice and platform, and become evergreen. Let’s dissect each of the six ways to guarantee no one remembers you as a writer just a bit, shall we?

1) Trends reflect only what’s been selling, not necessarily what readers would accept if they had access to something different. And if you’re writing just to cash in on a wave of interest, it usually shows in the content or your ability to persist with the project.

2) If you never say anything that could offend, you will blend in. You need to stand for something and defend it in one way or another. Otherwise, readers won’t empathize and get behind you.

3) Sometimes feedback is just plain wrong. And if you try to incorporate everything, the content usually becomes a mess of ideas. Alternatively, it gets so far from your original concept it’s not even recognizable when you finally publish.

4) It’s fine to have other writers directly or indirectly teach you. I wouldn’t write as I do if I hadn’t read the classics. But you can’t emulate them so much that you never learn to write with your own style. Read to enjoy yourself and learn who you are, not to be a copy.

5) Imagination is what allows your story to be unique. But if it’s not grounded in some way into what people know or have lived, they won’t be able to accept it.

6) I’m a total introvert. But even I know that books need marketing. Just like a plumber tells people they can fix your sink, you have to tell people you can write stories.

What say you?