You Are What You Read

If you know me, I love my cooking shows. I live for the Food Network. With that in mind, I want to start with a quote seen at the beginning of the show, Iron Chef. According to Brillant-Savarin, "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are." So true. When we look to understanding culture, looking to the food people eat tells us a lot.

And the same goes for what you read and what you write.

Before you start on your writing today, I want you to look to your bookshelf (hopefully you still have one of those loaded with things called "books") and review what you have there. If you don't have a physical bookshelf, look to your digital bookshelf. What you are reading should tell you a lot about what you are writing. 

There is a pretty good chance that you tend to read from the same publisher or two. There is a reason for it. Sure the authors you like are there, but it is also about the voice of the publisher. While many publishers produce the same genre of writing, their style and tone differs a lot. There is something about that voice that you understand and like better than other publishers.

And that is who you should be writing for. That is who you should be researching and learning from.

HOWEVER... (You saw that coming)...

If you are someone who gravitates to all of your "author friends" who self-publish and think they can do this on your own. You may find that the struggles they are facing are probably the same thing that you are facing or will face. 

I remember going to a writing conference several years ago and it was amazing that ALL of the authors who were part of the chapter all wrote for the same small digital press (which BTW, no longer exists). I was judging one of their contests and sure enough, all of those unpublished authors sounded the same as not only each other, but also of the now defunct publisher.

Later that year, I went to another conference with a lot of the big name authors as members. Shock of all shocks... no one there was being published by that smaller author and most were with the larger traditional publishers.  Connection? You bet!

Why? Go back to my Iron Chef quote. You learn from those people around you. The simple fact is, you might be reading and research people that are counter-productive to the goals you have in mind. There is nothing wrong with supporting your friends, but what they write is not what you are hoping from in your career, the odds are you are learning some bad habits.

We know throughout history that the successful people hang out with successful people. They work as resources for each other, but they are also learning from people who know what they are doing. As you go into this new year, I encourage you to consider who you are hanging out with. Changing your surroundings might be the solution you are looking for.