Swamped with doing everything a writer should? Simon Whaley chats to two writers who do what’s right for them.
How many times have you been told that you should do something? Perhaps someone said that if you write poetry, you should be on Bluesky. Or, if you self-publish novels, you should run Meta ads. Or, if you want to connect directly with your readers, you should be on Substack?
Many of these shoulds often come from a genuine place of kindness. When a writer finds something that works well for them, they want to share their experience to help other writers. I know I have been guilty of that in the past. We’re writers. We help each other out, right?
However, our writing business is just that: ours. What works for one writer may not work for others.
But sometimes this genuine offer from others can pressure us into thinking we’re doing something wrong if we don’t do what they say we should be doing.
Free Fiction
Short story writer S. Bee explains how she’s often been told she should only sell her stories for money.
‘Writers have told me that I shouldn’t give my work away for free, but that’s my decision to make, not theirs. What am I supposed to do with the huge heap of unsold work, when it’s been around all the magazines with no joy? I’ve entered comps with it as well, and got nowhere. I don’t sell every story I write and submit, so I’m happy to see my fiction published in little e-mags and non-profit projects.’
Instead, Bee takes a pragmatic approach to her writing. ‘If I self-published them in an e-book, I probably wouldn’t make a profit. To me, it’s just not worth it. At least my story has been used in some way, and some people may even read them! The time and trouble I spent writing these pieces weren’t wasted, so I’m okay with it. We need to do what’s right for us.’
So, why do we write? Is it for publication, for money, to give others joy when they read our work, or for us to enjoy the actual process of writing? If you’re ever unsure whether you should do something, think about how it helps you meet your writing motivation. If it doesn’t, then perhaps that should can be ignored.
Social Shoulds
One of the biggest shoulds the publishing industry pushes onto writers is that we should be on social media. I struggle with this. At one time, many writers were on X, but then when the trolling got bad, we were told we should be on Bluesky. Then other writers said we should be on Instagram instead.
Rachel Rowlands is the author of the Cat Cafe romances, and her latest, The Cat Cafe Book Club, has just been published by Hodder & Stoughton. She, too, felt under pressure to be on social media.
‘I was starting to feel anxious almost all the time because of social media,’ she explains. ‘Keeping up with the constant content creation and posting across countless platforms every day didn’t seem sustainable to me anymore on top of running an editing business and writing—and having a life! I’d gone along with what everyone said we should do as writers: I was on nearly every platform available to me and was making short-form videos regularly. But it started making me very unhappy and stressed. I read a few books on deep work and social media and decided I needed to make some changes.’
Instead, she snubbed the should and did what was right for her.
‘Once I’d decided to do something about it and leave most of the platforms, I actually felt relieved to have some things off my plate. I figured there were other ways of putting myself out there as an author without stretching myself so thin and risking my health and wellbeing.’
Deciding is one step, but doing it is another. It’s scary, especially when you’re going against what everyone else is doing.
‘I did worry I’d lose out on some connections or feel out of the loop with what was going on in publishing, especially leaving places like X (still Twitter when I left). Truthfully, I did lose some connections, but only the surface-level ones. And I realised I didn’t like being so tuned in to what everyone else was thinking or feeling at all times, because it made it harder for me to concentrate on being creative. Certain social media platforms have a tendency to amplify the negative—and that can be hard when you’re a sensitive person or a creative trying to stay focused.’
It’s been a couple of years now since Rachel stepped away from most of the social media channels, and now, looking back, she knows it was the right thing for her to do, and more importantly, for her writing.
‘I definitely made the right choice! When I made the decision, I was self-publishing but still pursuing traditional publication, and a little over a year later, I signed a book deal with Hodder & Stoughton. They have been fantastic at championing my books since then, and I don’t feel the need to rely on social media. I have a casual Instagram account to share updates and stay connected to my readers, and an author newsletter, but that’s it. And I stay informed on the industry by reading publishing newsletters!’
Publishing Prospects
Many writers seeking a traditional publishing contract fear that coming off social media will harm their publishing prospects. I’ve seen comments online and in newsletters that say agents and publishers expect authors to be on social media, emphasising further how we should have a presence.
Yet Rachel’s experience shows this isn’t true. A traditional publisher still took her on despite not having millions of followers on social media.
However, not every writer chooses the traditional publishing route, and Rachel acknowledges this.
‘I can see why self-publishing authors struggle with social media. Without the backing of a publisher, there is so much an author has to do on their own, including marketing, and that’s a challenge. We hear so many stories about writers blowing up on social media too—which makes us feel like we have to be there—but that’s not the norm. There are other methods of marketing too.’
In Bird by Bird, author Anne Lamott says, “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”
In other words, be a lighthouse in one place where readers can find you if they really want to.
Preorder Pressure
For me, one of the biggest shoulds I experienced was this time last year, in the lead-up to self-publishing my third cosy crime novel, Flaming Murder. I was chatting with other writers in a social media group and mentioned my upcoming novel. A fellow author commented that they couldn’t find my pre-launch page on Amazon.
Moments later, another author explained that because I’ve written two books in a series, I should have a preorder page for the third novel because my fans will be keen to get their copy on publication day.
I explored other social media groups and newsletters about preorders, and the advice was overwhelming. Apparently, as soon as I’d decided to write a series, I should have set up a preorder page for my second novel, let alone my third.
The pressure to follow everyone’s advice was overwhelming. I researched preorders and calculated what I had to do to meet Amazon’s requirements. Then I read that to make preorders work best, I should advertise the preorder using Meta ads and Amazon ads, driving traffic to the preorder page, and encouraging people to hit the preorder button.
It wasn’t until I stopped to work out how much work this entailed, how much money I’d need for advertising, and what my other writing commitments were during that period that I finally came to my senses. Just because others were telling me this was what I should do, didn’t mean that I had to do it.
When I checked out the authors in those social media groups, it soon became clear they were novelists. That was their writing business. My writing business involves writing magazine columns like this, doing travel features and walking routes for other magazines, editing non-fiction books for an American publisher, as well as delivering workshops and webinars for writers.
My writing business differs completely from theirs. When I realised this, a great weight lifted.
As Rachel says, ‘If what you feel you should be doing would negatively impact your health and wellbeing, it’s not worth it! No two author paths are the same, and we’re all largely throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. That’s the strange thing about this industry—what works for one writer may not work for another, and it’s impossible to recreate someone else’s success by doing what they did. You have to carve out your own path and do what feels right for you.’
So next time you consider doing something because you think you should, stop. Ask yourself: does this serve my writing motive?
If not, then perhaps the only should you need to consider is the one that says you should ignore it and do what’s right for you.
Business Directory: The Should Sieve
Sieve out the shoulds from the wants. Follow these six steps to test if you’re doing something because you’ve been told you should rather than because you want to:
- Name it. Write down exactly what you’re being told to do.
- Check the source. Who’s giving this advice? How much is their writing business like yours?
- Revisit your writing motive. Why do you write: money, publication, readers, or the joy of it?
- Count the cost. What will this really take in time, money, and energy?
- Test the fit. Does it move you toward your writing goal? Does it meet your motive?
- Decide and commit. Do it wholeheartedly, or drop it. And if you drop it, understand why dropping it is right for you. Then celebrate that decision!
© Simon Whaley