Authors Need More Than Just Money

I had a client several years ago who always seemed to have work for me. Whether it was revising nations in his setting, or adding new wrinkles to plots in the RPG modules he was preparing, it seemed like no sooner had I turned in one assignment than he would have another one ready for me. This client was generally agreeable, gave me some free rein with my creative decisions, and was generally appreciative of what I was doing. Not only that, he paid me promptly when I turned in a given assignment. But eventually I had to stop working for him.

Why? Well, because he never actually released anything I wrote for him. And while we need bread to live, as the saying goes, we need more than just bread if we are to truly feel alive.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Validation, And Audience Reaction

Folks who read the Business of Writing section on here may be scratching their heads a bit. After all, for someone whose handle is The Literary Mercenary, and who is usually focused on the nickels and dimes of the profession, this might seem like a bit of a left turn into the artsy-fartsy part of the profession. However, as anyone who's ever commanded soldiers or tried to act as a team lead can tell you, morale is a very real thing. And speaking as a writer, it takes more than just the satisfaction of putting words on the page, or getting some cash in your hand for the job, to keep you going.

Your stuff needs to be seen, read, and reacted to.

Let's talk about science for a second...

We all know how dopamine works. While there's a lot of scientific descriptions of how it's made and the purpose it serves, generally it's a hormone that's associated with happiness and pleasure. It's your brain's way of telling you, "This is a good thing. Keep doing this thing." We get it from all sorts of sources, but one of the ones we're all familiar with is when something we post on social media gets likes and positive approval from the site. Whether it's from friends and family, or from complete strangers, the ding of notifications can put a little shot of good feeling into you.

It's not so different for authors. While there may be folks who write just for themselves, or who don't want their work seen, those of us who do this professionally want our work to find its fanbase. We want people to read our stories, to learn about our characters, and to follow the path we've trailblazed for them with our imaginations. And even if we're being paid for our efforts, it is hard to keep pushing forward if we know we're basically shouting into the void because none of the words we're putting down on the page are ever getting released to the public... or being read by anyone if they are released.

A good example of this for me are my short stories Waking Dogs and Field Test. These are just little throwaway pieces of Warhammer 40K fan fiction I put together as a kind of palate cleanser to keep my story mind sharp when I didn't have the resources to work on new novels. The former is a tale of a World Eater space marine coming out of the fugue state caused by the butcher's nails, and the other is about an inquisitor testing a unique, living weapon she's been training for several years, for those who are curious.

What makes these pieces unique, though, is how far they've gone in the 40K community, and how many people reacted positively to them... something that happened largely because of A Vox in The Void's beautiful audio renditions of these tales.

Now, I'm not claiming that my name is known as well as folks like Dan Abnett or any of the other authors whose official work with Games Workshop is the cornerstone of the Black Library. But when hundreds of folk leave supportive comments about how much they liked a story, and when subreddits dedicated to the Death Korps of Krieg, the World Eaters, or Chaos Marines actively recommend me my own story before they find out who I am, that definitely hammers on the dopamine button in my brain.

Because it's one thing to have a nice, fat check in your hand. But knowing there are people out there who read your story (or listened to it) who actively enjoyed it? People who talked about it, and told strangers that they should read it? That is a feeling that you can't get anywhere else.

That feeling won't pay your bills at the end of the day. On the other hand, having your bills paid also won't feed your spirit the way knowing you wrote something that stuck with readers, and that they want other people to read as well. And that feeling can drive you pretty far, making you take on projects that have no real return on investment, but which may let you get another hit of that good stuff.

Because, contrary to a lot of what people might say, being popular (even popular within a small part of a fandom) is not a guarantee that you can turn your name recognition into money and opportunity. But sometimes you really just need to hear the crowd roar, and to be told you did a good job.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Why Do You Have Your Best Ideas In The Bathroom?

We've all been there. Maybe you had one taco too many, and now you're seated on the throne, taking care of some pressing paperwork. Or you're in the shower, rinsing off the sweat and salt of the day. Then, out of nowhere, an epiphany! You get an idea for a new book, or you realize what's wrong with your chapter seven plot twist, or you suddenly know what to do about the problem of your protagonist's parents!

Thanks hot water!

Almost every writer out there has a story like this, and all of them share a single element; a completely mindless activity. Whether it's showering, taking a dump, lifting weights, fishing, doing the dishes, or any of a hundred other tasks, your brain disconnects as soon as your hands go to work. You can do these tasks on muscle memory, after all, so your brain is left to its own devices while your meat goes about the busywork.

Take Your Hands Off The Wheel, and See What Happens

Mental Floss lays out the chemical reasons for how we get great ideas when we relax our brains, but I'll sum them up for you here.

So, your brain has something called a default mode network, sometimes abbreviated as DMN. This network clears the passages between the different parts of your brain, and allows ideas and intuitions to flow freely. The problem is that, while we might call it the default setting, it isn't the mode most of us are in a lot of the time.

You see, most of the time we are focusing on something we're doing. Maybe it's solving an issue at our desk, navigating city traffic, or laying out a budget for the coming months, but whatever it is, this kind of thinking shuts off the default network, and boosts the frontal cortex. This is where a lot of our ability to focus comes from. Unfortunately, that very focus can often be a detriment when it comes to thinking around problems. Especially if those problems are creative in nature.

There's a reason we still use word association, after all.

This is actually one of the reasons creative people tend to be more easily distracted, according to Shelley Carson at Harvard. The insinuation is that it's hard for them to turn off the DMN fully, or that it's easy for them to revert back to it... even when they should be focusing on something else.

It's not just being in the right state of mind, though. You have to relax, too. Because when you relax, your brain releases dopamine, and that is the feel-good rush you need to really get the juices flowing. It's particularly useful for those who've returned to the DMN state, because then it lights up different parts of the brain, and things start bubbling up from the depths.

Practice Self Care, And See How It Helps

Sometimes the weight of a project can really get to you. When you feel like you've written yourself into a corner, or there's just too much word count for you to ever come up with, remember to take a break. Take a steamy shower. Clean the kitchen. Hell, light some incense and meditate for a bit. Whatever it takes to get your mind to unclench, you need to do that.

Think of it like a muscle cramp. You got there by putting in intense, focused effort. Some time on the couch with a heating pad is a lot more likely to ease that cramp than doing another set of bicep curls while hoping for a different result.

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing post. I hope folks found it interesting, and if nothing else that you'll now have a conversation starter when you sit down with a friend who talks about their latest shower inspirations. If you'd like to see more from me and my blog, then head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron today! As little as $1 a month gets you my eternal gratitude, as well as some sweet swag to call your own. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, then now would be a great time to get started.