My Passion's Pen

by Kathryn Craft
Turning Whine into Gold

Everything’s changing.

Yep—that’s a whine all right, and a truth, and the summary of this entire post. Change is as constant in publishing as any other industry impacted by computerization in the past twenty years.

But change can be especially hard to grapple with for writers. Here’s why, and some tips for turning whine into gold.

Nature of the beast

Whine: Storytellers are constantly adrift in imaginary worlds, conjuring unexpected pressures that, in the end, will force some sort of inexorable change. Yet day after day writers depend on their coffee, their chocolate, their word count, their wine, their cat, and their Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure (oh—is that just me?). Constants serve as touchstones for an inner life in a constant state of upheaval.

Gold: Storytellers are change specialists. Yes, we usually control that change. But actual, real-world challenges, although rarely welcomed…