Strengthening One's Unique Identity
As the year draws to a close, I can't help but wonder how many times in life I'll pray and wish for a better next year. Besides, I don't remember ever saying, well...this year has been so good that I wish it would never end.
It is very rarely that we take a look back at a year with the sole purpose of celebrating that which was positive and profound. Ask me about the bad experiences I've had in 2015, ask me about the damage caused to my brand and I could possibly knock together a mini dissertation, but, ask me about what there was which was positive and worth celebrating and, I'd have to pause a little.
Truth of the matter is, I have accomplished much more than I'd like to give myself credit for. My birthday is 19 days away and I'm already planning to have the best book trailer ever!
It is important therefore, as the year draws to a close, to ensure that we plot those all important variables which are - our reputation, our input/productivity, our actual and desired income, as well as the actual and desired ranking of our brands (be it we're self-employed or in the employ of another).
As writers, readers and consumers with hunger and desires, stories and histories, with dreams and aspirations, with pressures and pains - it is critical to find voices in the written word which will result in that hunger or poverty being assuaged, books that will see our desires, dreams and aspirations being placed within palpable reach and texts which will relieve the pressures and pains, which symbolic of being human.
Writing as an art, has played this role through the ages, story-telling even longer, but with the former the advantage is in the certainty that it cannot easily dissipate and that it exists in perpetuity. There shall of course be literary genii who will go unnoticed, there shall also be average writers with mediocre stories who make it popularly big. Every story, be it real or imagined or a combination of both, is told so that it can be received. Books are meant to be read.
So, as we chart the course for 2016 let us remember to spread our wings, delving into books which don't typically fit our preferred genres. It is only by interrogating unknown territories that hidden treasures can be found.
For the writers, rather than focus on reworking your manuscripts until they are lifeless, read the works of other authors. Mark each paragraph you skipped, highlight the parts which were boring and unnecessary, then go back and read only that part of the book which captured and intrigued you and use that as a recipe when writing your own book.
Many established authors churn out books which fail to capture the reader from page 1. Go through the books on your bedside table and ask yourself why it is that some have been there longer than others.
Prioritize your brand and enter the New Year on a high, determined to think critically about where it is that you see yourself as an author and which new genres you will explore as a reader.
It is very rarely that we take a look back at a year with the sole purpose of celebrating that which was positive and profound. Ask me about the bad experiences I've had in 2015, ask me about the damage caused to my brand and I could possibly knock together a mini dissertation, but, ask me about what there was which was positive and worth celebrating and, I'd have to pause a little.
Truth of the matter is, I have accomplished much more than I'd like to give myself credit for. My birthday is 19 days away and I'm already planning to have the best book trailer ever!
It is important therefore, as the year draws to a close, to ensure that we plot those all important variables which are - our reputation, our input/productivity, our actual and desired income, as well as the actual and desired ranking of our brands (be it we're self-employed or in the employ of another).
As writers, readers and consumers with hunger and desires, stories and histories, with dreams and aspirations, with pressures and pains - it is critical to find voices in the written word which will result in that hunger or poverty being assuaged, books that will see our desires, dreams and aspirations being placed within palpable reach and texts which will relieve the pressures and pains, which symbolic of being human.
Writing as an art, has played this role through the ages, story-telling even longer, but with the former the advantage is in the certainty that it cannot easily dissipate and that it exists in perpetuity. There shall of course be literary genii who will go unnoticed, there shall also be average writers with mediocre stories who make it popularly big. Every story, be it real or imagined or a combination of both, is told so that it can be received. Books are meant to be read.
So, as we chart the course for 2016 let us remember to spread our wings, delving into books which don't typically fit our preferred genres. It is only by interrogating unknown territories that hidden treasures can be found.
For the writers, rather than focus on reworking your manuscripts until they are lifeless, read the works of other authors. Mark each paragraph you skipped, highlight the parts which were boring and unnecessary, then go back and read only that part of the book which captured and intrigued you and use that as a recipe when writing your own book.
Many established authors churn out books which fail to capture the reader from page 1. Go through the books on your bedside table and ask yourself why it is that some have been there longer than others.
Prioritize your brand and enter the New Year on a high, determined to think critically about where it is that you see yourself as an author and which new genres you will explore as a reader.
No comments have been added yet.
