Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Extroverted Writer

They do exist. I'm sure I've met one. Sometime.
     But overall, writers are shy, quiet, introverted types.  And we are certainly, even after we've been writing and improving our craft for years, painfully insecure about sharing our work with others, even people we know. For the most part, we are not outgoing individuals, especially with strangers or acquaintances.We dread the idea of putting ourselves "out there", at least in person as we are told we must to promote our writing.
     Most of us are much more comfortable expressing and presenting ourselves in writing. Therefore, when we do "talk" about ourselves in writing, we need to be willing to really show our personalities. No one wants to be seen as strange, but face it: writers - and creative types in general - are an odd group. We are unusual. The LWC (www.livingwriterscollective.blogspot.com) writers' group I am a member of has a website, blog and fb page that describe us - perfectly - as an "eclectic group" of writers.
     In my last post, I wrote about how "meeting" an interesting author often makes you want to read their work in a way that a description of their work often does not. We need to take advantage of this. Avoid writing bios in the third person. Let your quirky sense of humor and unique perspective show through your writing, both in your stories and novels and "non-fiction" bits and pieces in areas such as social media. Don't try to present yourself as bland, normal, or just like everyone else. Make people see how fascinating you are and they will expect that your plots and characters are as well.

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