The best of Brett Harris's advice to young creators.
(Part One)
Three weeks ago I was watching the livestream for the first-ever graduation from the Author Conservatory (founded by Brett Harris and Kara Swanson.) In Brett’s speech, he gave the graduating writers a grand list of advice. These maxims quickly become familiar to his students in the Author Conservatory or the Young Writer’s Workshop.
“I just want to repeat once again just some of the truths I hope you will take with you for the rest of your lives:
“Writing is a viable career if you treat it like a viable career.”
Brett compares writing to being a lawyer. Lawyers go to school for years and spend a lot of work learning before they take the bar exam and are allowed to practice law. He says it would be ridiculous to say to a sophomore, “why aren’t you making money being a lawyer yet? You should really find a fallback plan.”
At the same time, writers have to treat writing seriously to make a career out of it. Just like any other career, writers need training, planning, and discipline. They need to consistently put time into it (A job is 20-40 hours a week. Take a minute to think about where a writer could be if they wrote 20-40 hours a week.)
Not all writers make their living writing books, though. Many writers get income from other writing opportunities as well.
Read more: Yes, You Can Make A Living As A Writer: Here’s How by Brett Harris.
“Depth doesn't come from complexity.”
It seems like everyone is trying to be the next Tolkien, but when the reader is meeting the 435th character, the emotional impact of the story can get watered down. Many young writers start with big dreams and outline twelve book epics and worldbuild an encyclopedia of flora and fauna. These writers often fizzle out.
Start with something small and let it grow from there. There’s no shame in writing a short story or novella.
Read more: 10 Ways Writing Short Stories Can Help You Write Great Novels by Sara Twinkle.
“Your writing is queen but your concept is king”
Brett is saying here that no matter how good you are at the technical skills of prose and grammar, the concept is what will be left with readers.
Read more: How To Craft A High-Concept Premise by the Author Conservatory
“Value yourself. Value your time. Value what you've created. Failing to value these things is ingratitude towards God who gave them to you.”
Whether I’m writing, working on a commission, even childcare and housecleaning, I used to feel guilty for charging the rates that I do. Now, instead of feeling guilty, I strive to efficiently produce quality work for my client. Being efficient is good for both me and my clients. I’m currently working on cutting down the time it takes me to write and clean. My prices and quality don’t change, but I can fit more in, which leads to a better value for my clients and allows me to tackle more projects.
Valuing something is different than unhealthy pride. We are called to be good stewards of what God has given to us, and a good steward knows the value of something without taking undue pride in it. Looking at gifts and blessings with the attitude that God gave them to us to steward wisely, should lead to a healthy, honorable use of said gifts and blessings.
Read more: How to Become a More Productive Writer by Emma Thrasher.
“Commit to only doing well for yourselves by doing good for others.”
This is the same thing as about. If writers have a mindset focused on themselves, what can they get or take, they’ll end up pushing people away. If they have a mindset that focuses on others, they’ll attract people.
“Ethical marketing is truth-telling. Ethical marketing is good news.”
If you’ve created something of value, and you’re committed to doing good for others, then marketing is just telling people about something good.
Read more:How to Grow Your Readership: Top Strategies of 9 Authors
“The average person must see a message seven times before they're provoked to take action”
Hehe probably why I’m constantly reviewing the tasks my bullet journal.
This means that a writer can’t just put something out there once and expect it to stick. If you want someone to buy your book, you need to put it front of them ~7 times. This can be through your email list, social media, word of mouth, other people’s email lists, etc.
“Exercise your courage. Don't wait for confidence, but exercise your courage”
Courage means you do the hard things despite of how much confidence you feel or don’t feel.
“Your brand is a story and that story is not about you.”
Storybranding (related to personal branding) is a concept that I’ve studied in school and discussed in an article for a client. Storybranding is using a story structure to resonate with your target audience.
You start with a character (someone that represents your target audience) with a problem who meets a guide (someone who represents your brand) who understands thier fear with both empathy and authority, and gives them a plan that calls them to action that results in either sucess or failure.
It’s really tempting to make it about you, especially when it’s your life story and/or your book. But it’s really about your reader.
“It's the email list. It's the email list. It's the email list. It's still the email list.
The email list is how to get your message in front of your readers.
How to start an email list and why one useful for content creators
Last month, a subscriber sent in the question, “I am starting an email list, and wondered if you had any advice on how I should go about it?” I answered her email, but I thought I’d expand on the subject here. An email list is possibly the most personal method of connecting your content with the people who need it. I’m not going to check a few dozen blogs…
“Relationships come first.”
Brett also says, “to write well you must live excellently.” This is a weakness of young writers. Because we’re young we haven’t lived a lot of life, and when we get wrapped up in fictional worlds we can become disconnected from the world around us.
Sometimes it looks like relationships get in the way of writing and that’s okay! I’d rather drive down to the coast or have a game night with friends or go for a walk with family instead of writing. I can’t always goof off instead of writing, but God gave me the gift of relationships. After all, I wouldn’t have anything to write about if I spent all my time writing.