Joan Gelfand, author of You Can Be a Winning Writer

Joan Gelfand’s latest book, You Can Be a Winning Writer, charts the four parts of every successful writer’s life: Craft, Commitment, Community and Confidence. The book was published July 15, 2018 at Mango Publishing Group.

I had the privilege of interviewing Joan this week. Here’s what she said:

1. Joan, you convincingly state that all four of the C’s — craft, community, commitment and confidence — are essential to becoming a winning writer. Do you consider them similar “burners” on your writer’s stove, or are they qualitatively different? For example, I would consider the craft of writing as a relatively technical or “hard” skill, which one can more easily learn from books or other training materials. By contrast, the other three C’s are “softer” skills, more subjective and more difficult to quantify.

Can you please comment on this?

Actually, the thrust of this book is that all 4 c’s are critical to becoming a successful author. I don’t believe that craft is a ‘hard’ skill and ‘confidence’ a soft one. I know that time demands can cause an author to shift focus and that’s why I understand that the ‘burners’ need to be shifted around. Sometimes you might be out promoting and not writing! But that doesn’t mean that you don’t shift that — and improving your craft — when time allows. Further, I do believe that you can quantify commitment and involvement with community. Confidence can ebb and flow, but the development of it is still clearly measurable.

I met a writer once who had Charles Baxter as her teacher. He had judged a contest that she won. He helped her get an agent and a contract but she did nothing with her book because she was petrified of the public. In her case, community and confidence would have helped her to get a contract for a second book but she never did.

2. Although all of the four C’s need to be cultivated to be a winning writer, are there times in a writer’s life when one or another is more important to master than the others? Is one or another more important for a new versus a seasoned writer?

Absolutely! While the first years might be devoted to craft, the point that I am making is that while you are busy developing craft, you need to be building up your platform. Getting smaller pieces published and building your writer’s resume, meeting the literary community all help in building your platform. So, while your focus might be on craft in the first years, you want to keep your eye on the goal of what you will do when the time comes to present your work to a publisher or agent. Building a reputation is not something that you can do the minute your manuscript is complete — it takes a long time!

3. You reiterate what so many writing coaches say: All feedback is golden. Take every suggestion. Do not be defensive, because what you resist may be exactly what you need to hear.

At the same time, we admonish writers not to try to figure out what other people want to hear from them, but rather to focus on what they, uniquely, have to offer.

So here’s the rub: A writer must identify the fine line between these valuable and somewhat contradictory pieces of advice.

At any point in time, how should a writer determine whether a reader’s comments are irrelevant or even destructive, or whether they are exactly what s/he needs to hear?

This sure is the ‘rub!’ In my section on Feedback, I make it very clear that I personally have made a couple of near fatal mistakes with feedback. Not all feedback is golden : ) I think one way to parse this is to give serious consideration to where the feedback is coming from: Is this person reputable? Have other writers felt undermined by him/her? Do you LIKE their work? So that’s one approach. The other is ‘keep your own counsel.’ “The Confederacy of Dunces,” “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” and even “Ulysses” would never have been written and published if those authors had listened to “everything everyone had to say.” They worked and worked and found their advocate, their ambassadors. They were patient! They believed in their own work. THIS is why writing coaches exist. Writers get overwhelmed by advice, how much to change their books, and what is TRUE for them as the author. I hope this helps.

4. I was intrigued by the distinction you make between networking and community building. Networking’s motto is “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine;” community building’s is, “I want to help you on your path, even if you never do anything for me.”

But you also say that once I’ve built community and my book comes out, when I need a review or a favor, all those community people that I’ve helped over the years are there, willing to help.

Isn’t community-building therefore just a more subtle form of networking?

Good question. I think the difference here is that being part of a community is: We are all in this together. I’ve heard (and I abhor this!) writers say how jealous they are of other writers getting contracts, winning reviews and awards. THAT is not community building. That is petty. And sometimes, networking can go down to that petty level. Community building is, “I’m thrilled for your success. You’ve worked hard! You deserve this! And, I’m going to be there for you when you win that prize!” It’s a bit of a Buddhist approach — a modicum of detachment. But the truth is if you are really sincere, those people — or others! — will be there for you when you need a favor.

5. You describe the near-fatal autumn when you believed that your writing career was doomed. And then you realized that it wasn’t doomed at all. You were just truly exhausted. It seems to me that failure and exhaustion can be mutually reinforcing, and may therefore appear to be very intertwined.

Can you provide writers with a few tried-and-true signs for distinguishing between failure and exhaustion?

Whew! Very astute question! And one which actually makes me sad. All kinds of professionals run themselves into the ground — it’s called ‘burnout’ in the business world. But the beauty of being a writer is that you can detach yourself: you can leave your office, go for a 3 day respite, sign up for a writer’s retreat or artist colony and search your soul. Most definitely, there are times when you push, push, push, and times when you need to dial back. Mental work is very tiring. People need to push, but also be gentle with themselves.

6. You share numerous other instances of disappointment and frustration along the path to becoming a winning writer, experiences that left you feeling defeated and discouraged. You were convinced that you were finished. You asked yourself, “ Is it time to think about another career?”

But you turned up your confidence and commitment burners and continued to persevere. Bravo!

Is this the right message for all aspiring writers? Isn’t it just as important to know when it’s really time to hang it up and try something different? How should a writer know when it’s time to stop?

Hahaha. OK — so here’s a reiteration of something I said in the book: While my novel was not being published exactly when I was ready for it to be published, I was winning awards and kudos and publications as a poet. Something was working. I was writing articles and being invited on press trips and feeling very much like a ‘real writer.’ So, while a project might never see the light of day, I always say, ‘writers write.’ It might not be the novel of your dreams, but you might publish a screenplay or a collection of poetry. Keep trying different avenues and, sometimes, you’ll find that once you succeed in one area, suddenly interest flares for your other projects. I.e. Dan Brown had two novels in the drawer that he sold AFTER “the DaVinci Code” made him famous. : )

7. You state that a winning writer doesn’t just write for the fun of writing. A winning writer is driven to make a successful career out of his/her writing. That kind of drive might lead to the attachment your friend Norman warned against. In his words, “In the end, it [the process of publishing] is not where true happiness comes from. True happiness comes from yourself.”

Can a singular drive to succeed as a winning writer potentially get in the way of great writing?

I am 100% in agreement with Norman, my beloved meditation teacher. Being a winning writer is not the key to happiness. I’m not trying to be the Dalai Lama haha. BUT there are SO many writers I meet with SO much talent who just don’t know how to make it work. So I help them on their paths. I just got a client a publishing contract who A: had this book brewing in her for over 20 years, and B: was about to give up and self-publish. She is thrilled! So I think there are two different issues here — talented writers who give up too soon, and non-talented writers who drive. And guess what? Plenty of non-talented writers get published — because of their drive. This is life. Some people hate Picasso — but he was determined!

8. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Be attentive to life. Be a close watcher of the world and human interactions and think of how your work will really benefit humanity. If it is writing for therapeutic reasons (the story of your father’s death, the death of your pet, your story of abuse) it’s ok, but ask yourself if you can make it universal in some way.

Thank you very much!