The Challenge for Young Writers Today

For the writers out there reading this, I am not talking about the fact that people are doing more watching than reading. Yes, our world is more geared towards listening to audio books or watching movies and series, but writing is still alive and thriving.

However, the passion for writing is dwindling in the older generation, so it is up to young authors today to let their imagination run wild. Young writers have the dreams and energy to write a novel that has an impact or builds a fan base.

Of course, this is easier said than done. However, young writers face many challenges today and I am going to discuss how each can be tackled. Trust me, at the end of the day, making a career from writing will still be difficult, but this advice worked for me and it will work for any young writer.
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1. Making Time for Writing

Now, this is a problem for all writers, not just young writers. Young writers have many responsibilities to studies or their day job and as such there is little time left for anything else. I know just as well as anyone else that the last thing you want to do once you clock off is anything that is close to work.

How I tackled this challenge was truly trial and error. First, I tried making time at work, but their are way too many distractions and tasks to complete, so that was dead in the water as soon as it started. Next, I tried writing in the evening.

Of course, this worked out well in the beginning, but there would be days that made me wish to fall asleep or relax with something that wasn’t so productive. Much like exercise, when you miss one day it makes it difficult to return to the schedule.

Finally, I decided to write early in the day and what a revelation. The mind is refreshed when you wake up, that morning tea or coffee keeps you going and writing seems a lot more fluid.

Of course, if you are working a day job or studying throughout the day, it means you need to wake up earlier, which means you need to go to sleep earlier. Maintaining health is more important than such ambitions, but I believe many reading this can admit that sometimes it must take backseat to responsibility and ambition.

Depending on your schedule this may vary, but I believe the best time to be creative is straight after you wake up, the best time to work is the middle of the day and the best time to relax is before you go to sleep.
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2. The Series is Mightier than the Stand-Alone

Yes, at the end of the day I get most of my sales from the series I’ve written than the standalones and upon further inspection, the same goes for every other successful author.

It goes without saying that if you want to make a career from writing you can’t write just one book. You can write several books, but if they are not part of a series they will pale in comparison to series novels.

The reason being is that statistically speaking, a majority of readers read novels in a series more than standalones. Readers want stories they enjoy to continue, so they would rather take a chance and start a series rather than read a standalone. In addition to this, a reader is more likely to buy another one of your books if you have written a series.

Yes, even in writing you need to maintain an image of a writer and nothing says that more than a stack of books than just a once-off novel.
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3. Become a Blogger

Maintaining a public presence is ultimately important. Unless you have a large following you cannot rely on social media alone to promote your novels. However, nothing increases your internet presence like a website that has your name all over it.

A blog requires a website with your name on it, or at least something unique to associate with your name. Advertise your novel, push it towards your readers, let them see that you are present in your building fan base and they will show appreciation.

You gain followers, you are more present in Google's eyes and finally you make more sales. Success builds with time and dedication, so you can’t just throw your work into the internet and expect it to rise to popularity straight away. What will help you is maintaining and growing your internet presence.
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4. Publishing Your Novel

Now, let me express my appreciation for one, dedicated, free service called Draft-2-Digital. It is the writer’s best friend in publishing, it will put your novel on every service selling books and e-books, Amazon included.

Publish to Draft-2-Digital, become a self-published author.

The difficulty in in submitting your book to a publisher is the time you spend waiting for an answer is too much. If you are already published on the internet you make it difficult to sign with a publisher if they like your book.

To make matters worse, publishers have high standards of writing, so you as a young, inexperienced writer, have a small chance of being published unless your novel is truly spectacular. Publishers today prefer to find their authors and work with writers they have always worked with. Taking on new writers is not their priority, so don’t make submitting to a publisher your priority.

However, having your book already racking up sales by self-publishing is a far better option.
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(BONUS) Thank You!

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