Community

Distribution Follows Purpose

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

As writers it’s easy to find a laundry list of advice on what you should do to reach people – have a Newsletter, have a Blog, use these formats, etc.  There’s so much common wisdom that we never ask if the common part is exceeding the wisdom part.

And no, this was not inspired by the latest Twitter drama.  It reflects on it, so I’m sorry.

I have several writing projects – and not all of them involve what you see here.  I write at work, have side projects, help people out in groups and clubs, etc.  I’m a writer, but I have many facets if you’ll indulge the metaphor – and those facets let me learn.

As of late one of my other writing projects spun up with an agonizingly slow speed, and I had to consider what forms this effort would take.  The old list mentioned above came into mind, but I stopped and asked a question that derailed me from doing “the usual.”

I asked, “How do I want to reach people with this project?” and my mind ground to a halt because we usually assume the audience is “as many people as possible.”  That book, that flyer, that business announcement, we all want it to be spread as far and wide, right?  It’s just what you do, right?

What you want to do is reach the right people and interact with them in a certain way.  You just need to know who the “right people” are and how you really want to interact with them – even if it’s to sell them a book.  The usual “do-this-as-a-writer” list is not universal.

For instance, a fellow author of mine was deep into Facebook marketing as a core way to reach people.  Sure they liked interacting with their audience, but they were so good at marketing they could reach a lot more than through a newsletter.  Their goal was to sell books first, and that worked for them.

For me socializing is a big part of writing.  Even though I have to juggle newsletters and blogs and such, I enjoy the human connection of being around writers and readers.  I’m juggling some wild ideas for my blog and newsletter where I merge some content and do regular zoom chats.  Trust me, I had some crazy ideas during covid I still might act on . . .

For one of my side projects, the goal is to build a newsletter for a group that may also involve outreach and adding new people to the project.  That’s a completely different world – a specified target audience where the goal is outreach but also building archival information.

Different goals.  Different forms of outreach.  None of them fit a checklist of “how to be a writer.”

So when you’re asking the question of all the tools you can use as  a writer, all the ways to distribute work?  Pause.  Ask yourself how you want to reach people and how you want to interact with them.  Find what fits your goals.

Also, at least now when people say “you must be on Twitter” you can just glare at them.  For multiple reasons.

Steven Savage

Writing With Friends, Friends With Writing

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

Serdar’s latest article on feedback investigated why we need feedback to know we’re not going wrong. Positive feedback has its limits, after all.

That article got me thinking about feedback from my fellow writers and socializing with my fellow writers. These are things that I others value, but I’ve come to realize that you don’t always get them from the same people.

It’s essential to have feedback from fellow writers because they’re fellow writers. There are some things only a fellow writer can provide, such as the best tools or personal stories. Even your fans can’t give that kind of feedback.

But we also want to socialize with fellow writers. We want people to get us and share our triumphs and complaints. Writers want to connect with each other – just like anyone else. Forget feedback – can I just hang out with someone who sort of understands.

These things don’t always come from the same people, which is a difference I’ve struggled to deal with. COVID isolation has only made it worse, cramming all my writing relationships into a few social media apps.

Sure, I want feedback from my fellow writers, but the ability to learn from each other may not mean you’re friends. You may not have enough similarities, be too busy, etc..  You may find some writing relationships only work in the professional sense.

But as for being friends with fellow writers, that’s a whole different sphere. Your friendship may be built – or grow around – things unrelated to writing. You may find you enjoy hanging out and don’t want to drag writing into it. Friendship is different than professional relationships.

As I navigated COVID and our current “not quite a disaster but damn” phase of COVID, I and others are trying to build and rebuild relationships. I find myself craving feedback and friendship with fellow writers, something they often share. We’re constantly trying to sort out what we’re looking for or what function a writer’s group serves.

We writers might need to pause and what relationships we’re looking for – and how current relationships work. We might have more than we know, less than we wanted, or find we’re confused about relationships.

But at least we’ll know.

Steven Savage

The Desire For Exchange

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’d like to propose something to my fellow writers, creatives, and philosophical types. What if we were to exchange such things as written folios, guides, and musings of our various interests? Imagine exchanging a few thousand words specifically among your fellows for deep contemplation and writing.

This idea struck me for two reasons:

First, in my readings on religion, writing, and so on, I’d often read of people exchanging detailed outlines and folios. These were not things meant for initial public consumption but for private exchange, “beta” readings, and contemplation. They might become more later, but they had an intimacy to them.

Secondly, in an age of blogs, discord chats, and social media, I feel something is missing – longer but private communications. The kind of thing that lacks worries about public appearance but also allows for contemplative thought. It also allows for timeshifting in a busy and chaotic age.

I visualize this as a small, tight group of people exchanging communications in longer form. Such exchanges would gradually form a dialogue about whatever subjects are at hand. People may also participate in multiple related or unrelated groups, further increasing insight. The works exchange may become books, or records, or just sit in email boxes – but it’ll be a deeper exchange of ideas.

I’m going to bounce this off a few people I know and see if they want to try it. Let me know if you give it a shot as well – or want to try it!

Steven Savage