yet another post about writing . . . and stuff

If you play poker long enough, you will eventually hear the phrase, "I'd rather be lucky than good." Usually this phrase is delivered by a good player who has just gotten unlucky.

While dumb luck is certainly desirable when you're playing cards, good, skilled players will always triumph over unskilled but lucky ones in the long run.

This makes me think of something I once heard about working hard and staying focused, so when you have those inevitable encounters with good luck, it's like a collision of two peaks, rather than a peak and a trough. It went something like, "Work hard, and you'll be in a position to benefit from good luck." or "Hard workers make their own luck."

(For those of you keeping score, that would be poker and physics in the same post, and I'm just getting started. Go me.)

I've been doing more interviews than usual lately, and with all the talking about how I got where I am today, how I feel about it, and what's next, I've spent a lot of time thinking -- I mean really, seriously examining -- those questions, long after the interview is over.

"Who am I? Why am I here?"

(Oh, Admiral Stockdale. We are so glad that we hardly knew ye.)

I keep coming back to feeling lucky, and how grateful I am that I was in the right place at the right time with so many things, starting with the first post on my blog, all the way back in the middle ages. A lot of success is timing, and I started doing this at a time when not a lot of other people were, so I got to load up my wagons and hope I didn't die of dysentery while a bunch of us made permanent the trail that was originally laid out by guys like Dave Winer and Doc Searls. If I'd started blogging at any other time, I'm not sure I'd be writing this post right now.

I was also lucky to have my blog and my love of poker converge at a time when it made sense for PokerStars to hire me and take me on some of the most outrageously fun adventures of my life. If either event had peaked at a different time, I wouldn't have been a proud member of Team Blog in 2006, and made some of the greatest friends I've ever known.

When I realized I had Dancing Barefoot sitting within the manuscript of Just A Geek, I was lucky to realize that the rules for publishing were changing, that bloggers could be authors and authors could be bloggers. I know this seems obvious now, but at the time it was a pretty controversial idea. When it came time to publish it, I had this crazy idea of doing it entirely on my own, and my predictions about how it would work out were correct. Luckily for me, I was willing to take a very big and very scary chance. (Unluckily, when O'Reilly was mismarketing Just a Geek, my predictions also came true. Maybe I should change my name to Zoltan and sit in a box at the fair.)

Most of all, though, I've been blessed by the incredible generosity of people who had no reason to help and guide me, but did anyway: John Scalzi and Warren Ellis are two who you'd recognize, and the rest of the list could fill a 2 gig flash drive in a single-spaced text file. That I wrote in vi because I couldn't find the text editor in emacs. God, that joke never gets old.

There are countless other moments where I got lucky, and an equal number where I've gotten unlucky, but  -- and this is where I get to my point, such as it is -- through it all, I've never relied solely on luck, and neither should you. Through it all, I always kept working as hard as I could to not suck, to never be satisfied, to not get complacent, to appreciate my successes and learn from my mistakes.

I guess what I'm saying is that luck sort of just shows up, I guess, whether you need it or not, while only you can decide to work hard, or not.

Right.

Now, all of that is prelude to what I really wanted to share with this post: some resources that I've come across recently that I think are quite useful for writers, especially noobs like me.

Oh! Jeebus, this is harder to put together than I thought it would be, so bear with me, okay? There's one other thing: don't ever take for granted the kindness and generosity of experienced people who are willing to help you, and when you're finally in a position to do the same for other people, do it.

Still with me? Here ya go:

From mental_floss, a collection of books that aspiring writers should read, and some totally useful grammar rules (including my personal nemesis, the correct usage of that and which.)   

If you're considering self publishing like I did, you should look at all of SFWA's resources for writers, but especially Writer Beware, which identifies many of the scams and dangers that are out there for those of us who don't know any better.

Books that I read when I was building Monolith Press that made all the difference:

• The Complete Guide to Self Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross
• The Self Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter
• Jumpstart Your Book Sales by Tom and Marilyn Ross
• The Purple Cow by Seth Godin

One book that everyone should read, whether you're a writer or not, but especially if you're working essentially on your own: Upgrade Your Life (aka The Lifehacker Book) by Gina Trapani.

Finally, an important note to all artists: nobody in the world will work as hard as you will to promote your work, nobody will care about promoting it as much as you do, and your work will be as successful as you work to make it. Hopefully, you'll get lucky like I did and get some good word of mouth and connect with a passionate group of people who will tell their friends about you, but that's never going to happen if you don't work hard -- really, really hard -- to make it happen.

Okay. That is all. Now, I am going to go for a jog with my wife.

Updated to add: VT makes a massively awesome point: get out of your own way. Or, as I put it, don't be afraid to suck. It's easier to fix something you don't like than it is to fill up a blank page. Trust me, I hung on that cross so you don't have to.

Comments

[McAtilla]

Don't know who first said it but "let your efforts match your expectations" is some of the best advice I ever heard in just six words.

Great post. Thanks.

[Tandaina]

Wil thank you for posting this, I've always been impressed by your desire to help fellow geeks/writers/whoevers by sharing your experience. I really appreciate it.

I'm about to go back to grad school after spending eight years as a software engineer (oh do I get the vi jokes). Looking for a way to help bring in extra money I've had folks suggest that I publish some of my own blog work but had no idea if it was even possible or where to start. Thanks again for the information.

Tandaina

[Chompa]

Good post. I put Upgrade Your Life on my library hold list. I always enjoy LifeHacker.

[[GWJ] rabbit]

I'll toss in two more invaluable resources, particularly if you are a non-fiction writer:

APStylebook.com - get it right everytime.

Copyblogger.com - and have it work.

JM

rabbitatsignrabbitcavedotcom

[Gary F.]

I've always lived by the motto of:

Luck = Preparation + Opportunity

[BrianJ]

Good post, Wil -- and you gave the same advice to fellow writers that I do: don't be afraid to suck.

I mentioned this policy once on a writer's forum, and someone got up in my grill about how I should never encourage people to write crap. I argued that there's a difference between encouraging people to write crap and encouraging them to not worry about getting it perfect on the first draft. There's a reason the term contains both the words FIRST and DRAFT.

To this end, there's a great story I like to tell about George Harrison, when he was writing the song "Something." He brought it the other Beatles and sang the opening line, "Something in the way she moves/Attracts me like..." and then stopped. "I don't know what she attracts me like," he admitted -- to which John Lennon encouraged him to substitute the words "a cauliflower" and move on with the rest of the song, then come back to it later (the words, as everyone likely knows, were later modified to "no other lover.")

Point being: Lennon encouraged Harrison not to obsess about getting it perfect on first draft. The real challenge is to keep writing, even when stuck. Chances are, you'll eventually get it.

Oh, and by the way, one more good resource: The Chicago Manual of Style. My editor made me use this when I was writing my book (my first response: "The Chicago what?" I'd never heard of it), and it's a godsend, and much easier to use than a lot of style books.

Just my two cents (two and a half Canadian).

[Shannon Hilson]

"I guess what I'm saying is that luck sort of just shows up, I guess, whether you need it or not, while only you can decide to work hard, or not."

--------

Definitely words to live by. I've recently gotten back into my writing full force after a long time away from it. I've written some things that I'd love to put out there sooner or later, and I'm going to go with self-publishing as well... for some of it anyway.

I'm not afraid of hard work, and I love a challenge, so I'm probably set on that front. I worry about the luck of the draw sometimes, but like you said... that part takes care of itself if it's going to happen, so I might as well focus my energy where it counts.

So thank you for this post. It was just the type of thing I needed to read just now, as I've had publishing on the brain in a big way.

: )

[ChiaLynn]

One of my favorite writing sites is Writer Unboxed - it's targeted at "genre" writers (any genre - YA, romance, fantasy, mystery, not-quite-sure-what-that-is-but-it-looks-pretty-cool...). Lots of good writing advice, marketing advice, interviews with authors, agents, publicists, industry news - all kinds of stuff.

[dronecore]

unlike andrew i found the admiral stockdale joke great.

thanks for giving me something to read during my 8 hours of hell everyday!

[dealer]

Great post, but I think you mean Zoltar instead of Zoltan.

[onegirlmanyideas]

gracias amigo wil.

muchas muchas gracias.

i wish i was big.

[Scully]

Hey Wil,

Long time reader first time poster (I always wanted to say that). =) Just a quick note to say that I really enjoy your blog... You seem to 'get' the life/geek thing, which I dig.

So after reading today's post... In the spirit of "nobody in the world will work as hard as you will to promote your work" I hope you will forgive my shameless plug to some photography work I've done. =)

Please take a peek at my gallery...

http://scullyclone.deviantart.com/gallery/

I dig me some b&w... =)

[d]

This is really great!!

I love your blog btw!!!

[DavePress]

I'm still putting in my dues and I've been a published writer since I was sixteen when I interned at my local newspaper, but I find this post especially true.

I wanna say, that others here have commented on as well, is alot of your time is spent developing your craft, but its also going and getting what you want. Quite honestly, I would say, you're always developing your craft; its never-ending. As you get older and you write more and more you learn and that's developing your craft with learning makes you better and if you focus on that put yourself out there. An example of this is my own thing. I've worked in journalism, and much of my published work as a writer has been through that outlet so after a draught of not doing any of that and focusing on writing other things like fiction, screenplays, etc, I realized one day that I had stopped doing journalism all together. I realized that I had abandoned something that I had always been good at and where I really developed my style and who I am as a writer in the name of trying something else. Not that I think its time wasted because I don't think trying something completely different artistically that is still what you do is time wasted, it actually makes you a stronger person as well as an artist.

So, considering I've been published in journalism, and writing for print more specifically was something I started doing very young (16) and comic books have always been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember, I thought to myself: why not try writing for one of the comics reporting sites? So I emailed around seeing if anyone would let me write for them. Broken Frontier did and I did it for free for a while because I feel like if its something you love doing you should be able to say you'd do it for free. After a couple of articles, Comic Book Resources popped right up and offered me a paying job writing for them. And since I've joined that staff, I've had offers to write for other online magazines like Smith. So, I would say its three things: first, working to improve your craft (and not being afraid to take risks on things you have no kind of experience in); second, making your own luck and putting yourself out there, and knowing what you are absolutely good at. That someone has paid you for. It all boils down to sitting down and working on your art every day.

[thepearlady]

Thank you so much for writing this post, and for your continuing tales of what inspires you to write, etc. When I first read this in my feeder, I immediately bookmarked, starred, and placed this post on my share page. And, now, I can go back to re-read and check out those links even more. :)

[Jonathan (the other one)]

"Who am I? Why am I here?"

And the obvious response:

"Forget the questions, someone gimme another beer!"

[OfficeOverlord]

Another long-time reader, first-time registerer so as to be a first-time poster on what seems to be a miraculously timely post.

Can anyone point me toward a good resource for freelance bloggers?

I've been offered a freelance blogging contract, but it contains a "work-for-hire" clause...meaning that ownership (including copyright) of any writing I do belongs to the site, not to me. On the off chance that I was someday successful, it seems to me that the book/movie/podcast rights should be mine to profit from, not theirs.

The editor tells me this is "standard". I have no experience in the area to confirm or refute that. Does anyone here?

Thank you,
OO

[tanyak]

Don't worry Zoltan the Adequate... Wil didn't mean YOU when he picked out a randomly generic fair-person-worker name... I love you....

[wandrew]

I agree with andrew (and not just because we share a name). When Admiral Stockdale asked those questions, he was being rhetorical; in other words, he was asking what many debate viewers were asking. He then answered those questions. Unfortunately, no one remembers the answers because the media chose from then on to portray him as a senile old man. Like they do sometimes with John McCain who, coincidentally, also served in Nam and was tortured by the VC. Coincidence? You think?
No wonder only the powerful and control freaks run for POTUS: every time a candidate acts like a human being, the media ridicules him/her and drives hin/her out of the race. And or God's sake let's not acknowledge that Obama's "crazy preacher" might be right about a thing or two. That means we'd have to listen to him. And we just don't have time. So keep playing that "G-d damn America" clip and milk all the laughs of human cruelty out of it. God bless America, y'all.
P.S. I'm not from PA, and I don't have any guns, but I sure as s*&^ am bitter.

[Eric]

Hi,

Like everyone else, I'm following up on VT's comment about "getting out of your own way."

The first time I sat down to write a novel, I had trouble getting started. I was too worried about being original and committing an act of literature, as Lawrence Block put it. So I decided to write the most derivative, cliche-ridden, POS I could. After I gave myself permission to do that, I was able to bang out a first draft without a lot of problems.

Of course, what I wrote was utter drivel, and I didn't care enough about the story or the characters to fix it (maybe someday), but it did get the ball rolling.

Enjoying-your-blog-ly,
Eric

[Court]

Hey Wil,

Another great resource for writers (and anyone else involved in art/s) is "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. The whole concept is about "getting out of your own way." I'm working through the book right now (yes, it's work, not just a good oh-now-wasn't-that-nice read). So far, it's illuminating, fun, and painful. In a good I-see-now-why-I've-been-blocking-myself way. It's the cathartic ouch that lets the poison out.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on writing--I always enjoy them!

Courtney

[Dave]

I gotta go with Andrew here Wil, good post but your comment about Stockdale really pissed me off. You write a post about your own development as an artist and a writer while summarily dismissing someone with a cheap shot. The fact that someone was a one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the Navy doesn't exactly help your post. Slackers don't get awarded the congressional medal of honor. He was a public figure and certainly open to criticism, but I think you missed your mark there by a wide margin.

[Gorstagg]

Keep up your thoughts and comments Wil. Your insight is valuable, even if you don't immediately see a pay off. Who knows, maybe one day some writer who visited your page, got something he/she needed. And then they go off and become successful. So again, thanks for your thoughts.

[cc]

Thanks for letting me into your world, even just a bit. Signed, the quiet Team PokerStars Blog guy.