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The paradox of trying to make a living as an author

Writer's picture: Cara ThurlbournCara Thurlbourn


I'm just one week into my crowdfunding venture and, even at this stage, it has taught me a lot.

Mainly, it has highlighted something I already knew but hadn't really thought about in great detail. That something is the paradox of trying to make a living as an author. Because, you see, almost every author I know is an introvert. Most are also horribly prone to self-doubt and self-criticism. But if you want to make a living as an author, you are forced to expose yourself to just that: criticism.

How, then, do we come to terms with putting our work 'out there' and receiving not-so-nice feedback? Or, even worse, receiving negative comments that aren't related to our work - social media exposes us to attacks not only on our professional capability but our personal qualities too.

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. I am someone who takes everything far too personally. I analyse the words people use, play them over again and again in my head, wonder what I could say to them in response. I am the dictionary definition of someone who takes things 'to heart'. I really do. Comments that other people would be able to shrug off seem to creep under my skin and stay there.

So, I think this is the next challenge on my writing journey. I have to find a way to better cope with critique. Read it, decide whether it's valid, move on from it. Because when my novel is finished, I will undoubtedly get some horrid reviews. And somehow I need to find a way to pick out useful things, like mm I agree that character was a bit two dimensional, and ignore the rest. To not let it niggle in my brain for days and erode my self-esteem.

If anyone has any tips in this arena - please do share! In the mean time, I'm going to give Joanna Penn's Successful Author Mindset a try. I will let you know how I get on!


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