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Heyyyyyy guys! Look who’s posting again… *gulps and ducks under the table* I know I’ve been sadly absent. Life. Eighteen. Schedules. Editing. Life again. You get it. 😛
This is actually not a question about writing specifically… but rather, I want to know what you guys think about mentorship. As in, finding a mentor who will help you along your writing journey.
Practically every article I’ve ever read on success as a young writer says that you must find a mentor or everything’s wasted.
I haven’t found a mentor. And I’m actually not too worried about that.
Here’s the thing though; that might be a problem. The better I get to know myself, the more in tune I become with my own flaws, and one of them is that I’m fiercely independent. If I can do it alone, I will. And unfortunately more often than not what that looks like is me doing it alone even if I really can’t, and never realizing that I’m making it harder on myself than it has to be. It hasn’t killed me yet and so I guess that means it makes me stronger, but what do you think? Is it unhealthy to shoulder the full load yourself? Do you HAVE to have a mentor to find success? Does depending on someone else for full support sacrifice good lessons in self-discipline and sufficiency you would have learned if you’d gone it alone?
Literally any thoughts on this are welcome— I’m wide open and all ears.
@Daeus @Ethryndal @Aratrea @Northerner @Mark-Kamibaya @Shannon @DaughteroftheKing @Dragon-Snapper @His-Instrument @Overcomer@kateflournoy
I totally get where you’re coming from. I, too, am a fiercely independent person, and furthermore, when it comes to writing, I thought I knew everything there was to know.
Until I met my mentor.
My mentor’s name is Shellie Arnold, and she’s a published author who goes to our church. Through conversing with her and showing her short snippets of my writing, I’ve learned so much from her. She hasn’t asked me to change my style or anything like that. But because she knows the industry, she knows what’s publishable. She knows what agents and editors are looking for. She knows what steps I need to take. She’s taken the route to publication, and she knows how to help me get there. Which, at times, has meant I have to make changes I’m not comfortable with at first. But it has overall helped me improve my writing.
If you can find someone like that who is willing to just let you ask questions and help you in a very part-time way, I think you’d really benefit from it. Again, it hasnt taken away any of my independence as an author. It’s shortened my journey toward publication and saved me from making some potentially dangerous, career-harming mistakes.
If you’d like me to pass on what I’ve learned from her, let me know. I’m sure Hope Ann or Daeus can connect us by email.YA Fantasy Writer
Obsessive Character Namer
Find me at hisinstrumentblog.wordpress.com@kate-flournoy First of all, I can’t imagine why you would have to have a mentor to succeed. Methinks there have been plenty of authors who have succeeded without mentors. Here are my other thoughts.
1. You don’t need one on one training. You can learn everything you ever need to know from courses, forums, group mentoring, etc, etc.
2. There is such a thing as picking and choosing different mentorship sources. What I mean is, you might have a personal, very involved mentor in writing, take a course on getting published, and have three nominal mentors in marketing. That’s okay.
3. If you can get a mentor, do so! The idea of a mentor keeps getting more and more attractive to me. I wish I had one. Now, I say that with a caveat. Not all mentors are worth having, especially when it comes to the writing part. I happen to be rather cynical of most authors out there and don’t think most of them would make very good mentors when with the writing part. If an author randomly wanted to help me with my book, I’d be great with that, but I wouldn’t actively pursue them as a mentor unless I was really impressed with their writing. Now, on the marketing and publishing side of things, that’s where I think a mentor could be super helpful. While I do believe the best advice is really on the internet, the most detailed advice comes from people who mentor you, and details are often better than quality. For instance, the fastest way to become a successful author might be to grow your email list through ads, but I’m going to have to fail at that a lot before I get it right. However, if Author Joe can teach me exactly how he sells lots of books at conferences, he’ll make sure I do it right. Now, maybe I’m not able to drive around to a bunch of conferences, but mentors are at least good for this: they’ll keep you going. Maybe your mentor can’t teach you anything, but if he is dedicated to seeing you succeed, your chances of success are going to really increase.
Next time I’ll say that in half the words.
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@kate-flournoy Well…big question.
*chews on this thoughtfully*
I’ll be honest though, the first thing I think about when you say mentor is KP’s stereotype videos. “Mentor! Mentor! You’ve been hit!” XDAnyway…I personally don’t have a mentor, although I really want one. If I had an opportunity to have one, I would take it. However, I’m not seeking one out.
But that’s not your question. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I’m like you. I love to be independent. Independent is the best. 😛 But this:
you must find a mentor or everything’s wasted.
That is a little extreme. I mean...everything? Nah. Not everything. Certainly, a mentor would be helpful, but in no means is anything we do with someone or alone is a waste. So disregard the article message on mentors. You do not have to have one, however, it would be convenient and helpful to have one.
But if you think about it, that’s kinda what KP as a whole is. When you read articles, you’re getting the advice. When you get beta-readers, you’re getting the feedback. When you have Loki gif battles you’re getting the…ah…well…yeah. It’s kinda like we’re all mentoring each other. Right?
So KP will work for me. If I happen to get a mentor, then awesome. If I don’t, I doubt that the past two books I’ve written during my time on KP has been a waste.
Waste.
NO!
And that’s my 300 cents, because Dragons are rich. Buy yourself some ice cream.
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☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
And @daeus …you probably said what I was going to say except way more organized. Take some of that ice cream.
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@His-Instrument @Daeus @Dragon-Snapper thanks, guys. You people are the best.
I definitely agree with you about being cynical of most authors out there, Daeus. If I did seek out a mentor, it would be for the marketing/publishing side of things, even though I’m going indy.
Honestly, I feel like I can learn just as much about actual writing (maybe more) by mentoring others than by finding a mentor for myself. Because if someone else is depending on you and thinks you’re wise, you’d better wise-up in a hurry and not disappoint them! 😛 Extra incentive to dig deep by yourself so you can pass the knowledge on.I really appreciate the offer of shared information, @His-Instrument. Really. That means a lot; you offering to share your mentor with me. 😉 But I think I’m going to decline. The same mentors don’t work for everyone, and since I’m planning on self-publishing I don’t feel like that would be a good fit.
@Dragon-Snapper YES. KP has done so much, and that’s half the reason (okay probably more than half) I feel like I’m pretty well-equipped to make it on my own.@kate-flournoy *cackle* *cackle* Yes. Indie is good. Have you thought about starting a platform anytime soon?
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- Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
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@kate-flournoy I haven’t really been writing for a long time, so I’m not sure that I’m qualified to answer this question. I don’t have a mentor and I would like to say that so many great authors did not (as far as we know) really have mentors. I don’t think that having “someone to depend on” is always the best thing. However, everyone’s personality is different.
As an example, I taught myself to make jewelry, and now everyone wants me to take classes so I can get better at it. I have firmly declined, because I like to do things my own way. But who knows? Maybe my jewelry making skills might be a whole lot better if I was taking classes.
So, in this case I feel like a lot of it depends on how you feel about your writing, and if you feel that you could benefit from a mentor.
So, basically, I’m not saying that you should have a mentor or not have one, I’m just giving out a bunch of confusing opinions.- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1330
@kate-flournoy I am also pretty independent myself, so for me personally, KP is enough. If I had the option to have a mentor, I wouldn’t turn it down. But I am not actively pursuing that, because at this point I feel like I can make it on my own. I mean, I don’t think that having a mentor is the most important thing. The most important thing is to keep writing. You can ask for advice from anyone you know (e.g. family, church friends, people on KP). There’s my input. Hope that kind of makes sense. And sorry if I repeated everyone else on here. XP
@Daeus yep. Been thinkin’ about it for two years.
One word— school. *headdesk* I’m technically done, but there was extracurricular work that I didn’t know about, so I’m racing to finish that up and then HOPEFULLY I can actually get started with platform stuff. 😛 I’ll be beginning with a blog… and once I’ve got that relatively stable schedule-wise I’ll be coming to you with tongs and a pitchfork so I can pick your brain on email stuff. Beware.@Shannon no, good point actually, and it’s funny you said that about jewelry because I also taught myself to make jewelry and I want to take glassblowing classes so I can move beyond wire and stones and actually MAKE something. I took a prep-class on glass-bead-making earlier this year and loved it. I’m putting that off for now though because it’s not an immediate priority.
Anyway. Little unrelated caveat there. 😉Thanks to you too, @Emily. That’s pretty much how I feel. I just know that I tend to go it alone way too often, and I don’t want to miss anything I could be doing to give myself a better chance.
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@kate-flournoy Yeah. I understand that. Hope God gives you some clarity on whether or not to get a mentor.
- Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
- Total Posts: 859
That’s cool @kate-flournoy, I have a cousin who owns a bead store and does glassblowing. I bet that’s a hard skill to learn!
Thanks @Emily @Shannon. 🙂
And actually it wasn’t too hard… it didn’t involve any real ‘blowing’ which was kinda disappointing, but maybe that’s just the advanced techniques. 😉 It was sort of just like playing with modeling clay.
10,000+ degree modeling clay. 😛 Over a torch that could probably singe your eyebrows off from five feet away if you stood in the right place. But hey. It was fun.@kate-flournoy Sure. I only have one rule. Don’t pick apart my brain.
And actually, if you don’t mind me saying so, I wouldn’t start your blog and then come up with your plan for building your platform. I would come up with your plan first and then (if it’s the right thing to do) start a blog.
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- Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
- Total Posts: 859
@kateflournoy, LOL, sounds like a dangerous pastime!
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