My Competition Is NOT Other Writers / Happenings In The Outhouse 16-Sept-2022

I wrote a blog post 11 years ago about who my competition is.

To recap, it isn't other writers.  Because readers buy more than one author to read.  I don't know if I exactly agree with my premise at the time, that illiteracy was my biggest competitor.  In fact, lately, I know exactly who my competition is.

It's me.

I am my own worst critic, my own worst enemy.  My writing is all up to me to complete, doing all of Heinlein's five rules.  I need to keep churning out the products.

Last weekend, my girlfriend witnessed three people in two days come up to me and ask about my writing.  One even said they bought my last book and were halfway through it.  Another mentioned if I was rich.  Spoiler alert: I am not.

I love to entertain people with my writing.

I do agree that people who don't read--or can't--are people to go after, but in reality they need to be able to read first.  And want to read.

We need to give people a reason to read.

We need to write the best, most entertaining stories we can.

Use your favorite author as an inspiration, not a boundary

There is one author out there who's name evokes emotions of horror, and his name is Stephen King.

I've been reading Mr. King since I was in seventh grade, when my cousin Derek loaned me Salem's Lot and Cujo.  Ever since, I've wanted to be like him, to share in the same level of success.  Because isn't that what we all want?

But that is the wrong goal to have.  It reminds me of the story of Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile.  The four-minute mile, in the field of running, was seen as an unachievable goal.  Runners would get close, but never run faster than it.  Until Mr. Bannister did it in May of 1954.  Not long afterwards, other runners broke the once unachievable record because it was proved that it can be done.

Everyone has someone who already has achieved a level of success that they want to be.  But I challenge you to think beyond their success . . . and achieve your own.  Be greater than that person.  Be the best you can be--don't compare yourself with anyone else, regardless of their success.  Don't get me wrong.  It's okay to be inspired by them.  Just don't think of their success as the pinnacle, the very top anyone can achieve.

I may never achieve the level of success Stephen King has achieved, but I'm going to give it one hell of a shot.  One thing I must stress, I don't view Stephen King--or any other successful writer--as my nemesis.  I think all writers should strive to be the best they can be, because we're all in a war against illiteracy.  And the better stories we create, the more people will read.  And the more people will read . . we win.

A Call To Action, Part 2

The fictional world J. K. Rowling created has done some fantastic things to the real world.  Especially the writing world.  Simply put, she's revived it.  With her well-crafted stories, she made it fun to read again.  She made it fun for others who haven't read a novel in their life enjoy the magical world of Harry Potter.

I have met countless people who I never took for readers, but who've read the Harry Potter novels, only to fall in love (metaphorically) with Rowling's world she's created.  And you know what else happened?  Those non-readers started reading other stories.

I will be the first to admit there's a lot of junk that's published nowadays.  Especially now when it's so easy to actually publish something in the way of self-publishing.  But us true writers, lovers of the written word and the story, have to push forward, honing our skills to create our own masterpieces.  And we will continue what J. K. Rowling started, by issuing into the world more and more readers.  Because readers are sorely needed.

Readers . . . are leaders.

But that's for another blog.  And another time.

A Call To Action

I am in competition.

All writers are in competition.

Not with each other though.

Far from it, although one may tend to believe this.  But why?  People buy more than one book.  Hell, some people's homes look like a mini-library.  I know mine does at times.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I have shelves upon shelves of books, many of them discarded from the local library and bought for mere pennies.

Who am I, and every other writer, in competition with?

Illiteracy, of course.

You see, the better our books, the more fantastic our stories, the more people will read.  One target is the youth, because the youth are open to new ideas and are willing to take those grand journeys of the mind, deep in their own imagination.  The youth are not afraid of shouting from the mountaintop the next greatest thing.

Let that next greatest thing be your stories.

So, I issue at this time a call to action: we writers need to be on a mission, a mission where our enemy is illiteracy.  Write the best stories that you can, take your time to craft just the right words, and capture more and more readers into our nets.