As a Writer, What If I Am Just Average?

On WordPress, I continue to be amazed by the collection of talent. Sometimes an author’s writing floors me with its power, cleverness, raw emotion or beautiful use of language.

I am none of those things. I am a nerd who can correctly string together a series of words. As a writer–as a word artist–I am average.

How then do I expect to compete in the commercial marketplace? The same way an average employee competes in the workplace. By showing up. By giving my best effort. And like a tidal wave, by sheer volume. A dose of self-promotion is important, too. If I don’t market, I won’t sell. (Please don’t stop reading here. The best of this post is yet to come.)

I’ve said this before and I will say it again: throw enough at a wall and something will stick.

Part of succeeding as an average writer is finding my audience. I do that by writing in all the ways that appeal to me–short stories, haiku, flash fiction and novels. (In 2013, I hope to add internet content to the list.) Then I analyze. Of those things I like to write, what are people reading?

I need to look at my statistics. What do statistics tell me about what readers like in my work? Is it my true confessions? Is it self-improvement or how-to articles? Pop culture? Or factual pieces? Humorous stories? The off-the-wall?

Success is finding the match of my abilities with a need in the marketplace.

Ask the reader.

So I am asking you right now. What do you like best about this blog? Why do you stop by? Is there something which you’d like to see more often? Any answer is a helpful one. Silence hurts. So tell me something, anything, that will make this blog a better experience for you. Even if it is what you don’t like. Say, “Fay, dump this. Keep that.” Bring it on. Help me get better.

For me, that’s what it is all about. The best part is serving, helping, pleasing you, the reader.

The next best part is getting good enough to earn a paycheck! But that’s another post for another day.  🙂

10,000 Followers

Incredibly, a single blogger can attract a huge following. There is a blogger by the name of MaryMac who is a “mommy blogger” of major proportions — 10,000 followers proportions. She started blogging a few years ago about her crazy life, her marriage and motherhood. She has four kids.

She has a very biting sense of humor – an R bordering on X sense of humor – that caught on with lots of people.  All that attention opened doors and advanced her wished-for writing career. She became a popular speaker on using social media at writers conferences. Then she became a magazine editor.

And she still blogs.

About a year ago, I took a class from her at the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. She and author Mindie Burgoyne, also a teacher at the conference, told me to start blogging in preparation for publishing my first novel. So here I am.

In case you want to check out MaryMac for yourself, click here:

http://www.pajamasandcoffee.com/