Three Toxic Mindsets
One thing I’ve learned on this writerly journey of mine is that attitude is a huge part of what makes people stick it out and Do The Thing, or quit in frustration. Writing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and a poor mindset will sink you faster than a dark matter particle aboard the Titanic.
There are a few very common toxic mindsets that I see pop up time and again in the writing community, however, and if you recognize yourself having any of these attitudes, it might be time to reevaluate.
“Anyone Who Gives Me Negative Feedback Is A Hater”
Are there trolls out there who want to see you fail? Of course. It’s the Internet, trolls are a dime a dozen. But there are plenty of beta readers and critique partners around who are willing to help you improve your writing by giving you constructive criticism – if you’ll let them.
Learn to tell the difference between baseless feedback and genuine critiquing. For example, I once had someone tell me that they wouldn’t continue to read my book because the main character’s name is Chloe. That’s worthless. But I also got feedback on the original first chapter of my book that said Chloe spent too long with her inner monologue before we saw her do anything, and that dragged the pace of the story down. That is constructive feedback that makes my book better. Have reasonable expectations for your first draft (and for the love of cake, don’t publish your first draft.) It’s going to need work. People will spot issues you glossed over because you’re biased. Be willing to make fixes where needed.
Also, if you’re an unpublished author, people giving you negative feedback aren’t “jealous”. There’s nothing to be jealous of, yet. Calm down.
“My Art Is Too Pure To Be Tainted By Marketing”
Feel free to skip this one if you intend to solely be a hobbyist writer, but for those of us who are trying to sell our books to the general buying public, guess what? The market is saturated, readers are spoiled for choice, and if you want people to buy your book, you’re going to have to make sure they know it exists. Enter Marketing.
To get word of your book out there, you will need some sort of social media presence, a website, a newsletter, and some knowledge of how to run Amazon and/or Facebook ads. Sorry ‘bout it. Listen, I’m mad too, I’m old and don’t want to figure out all this tech stuff. But I also want to sell books, and even trad publishers don’t market you unless you’re already James Patterson or Norah Roberts.
The thing that makes this a toxic mindset is that I often see people in author groups complain about having to do marketing, but then later complaining that no one is buying their books. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
“F*** Art, All That Matters Is Money”
And this is the flip side of the coin. Listen, if you’ve been at this author gig for any length of time, you know there’s a whole industry out there of selling crap to authors. Aside from vanity presses and marketing scams, there’s a plethora of courses you can take and groups you can join, from “six-figure authors” who will teach you the magic formula to becoming a best-seller.
First, let’s address the main issue that these people are not six-figure authors from selling books but from selling courses on how to sell books to you. Secondly, their magic formula is usually some combination of common sense and unattainable-for-most-people goals. For example, they’ll tell you to have a “high-concept idea”, as if this guarantees success. A “high-concept idea” is fancy talk for “a really good idea that’s easy to understand”. The formula to success also generally requires you to rapidly publish. No, I don’t mean a couple of books a year. I mean a couple of books a month. Don’t have the time to do that? No problem, they’ll also advise you to spend more money on ghostwriters, or maybe to use AI to help write your stories. Oh, and don’t forget to spend more money on, you guessed, it, marketing.
The point is, if you follow most of these author gurus who claim to have the secret to success, you end up burnt out, devoid of the love of writing you once had, and significantly poorer.
What are some other toxic mindsets you’ve spotted in the writing world? Let me know!
