OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
You can't write that.
You can't think that.
You can't imagine those things.
You don't have permission to be that person, to think like that, to write like that, to publish that.
You're a nice girl. What will people think of you?
That's my inner critic speaking, but I've also heard those words echoed from people close to me over the years. I think it's only been in the last six months that I have given myself permission to let the raw side of me loose on the page. I'm finally finding my voice.
It's scary as hell because it turns out my stories are dark and twisty, but it's also empowering and liberating to let my mind have a free rein.
But I have to keep reminding myself that I have permission to write. Or I would stay safe in the shallows.
A friend told me the other day that I've changed since I became a full time writer. But I think it's just that the inner me is finally making it to the surface after years of suppression and doing what I was supposed to do.
And how has this change in me come about?
I've been writing journals for 20 years but blogging here for nearly 5 years has changed me far more. Because clicking the Publish button has made me think more deeply about what I want to say.
Because these words are going into the world, and people may well read them.
Because I have met writers who have challenged me to go deeper.
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time have witnessed the change as I've shared the journey with all its ups and downs.
Clicking the Publish button on Amazon or the other distributors has the same effect. It makes us braver over time, because we have to keep bringing our best to the page and we get almost instant feedback from readers.
This is the beauty of self publishing, because we don't need permission anymore.
If I hadn't self published Pentecost four years ago, or clicked Publish on this blog, I would still be a miserable IT consultant, talking about writing but not doing it.
If I hadn't persisted through three novels, I would not be finding my voice in the fourth.
If I had asked permission, or if I had waited to be picked, I would still be dreaming of what might have been.
Of course, permission to write and self-publish doesn't mean you'll get it right the first time.
It doesn't guarantee Hugh Howey or Amanda Hocking type success.
But it shifts you inside, it forces you to go further creatively. It enables you to clear the way for the next step, and after all, the writer's life is a journey of discovery, not a destination.
So you have permission. You are empowered.
To write.
To publish.
To connect with readers and writers all over the globe.
I'm done with taming the crazy. I'm giving myself permission. How about you?
Please do leave a comment below if this resonates with you. This is our community, and I sincerely thank you for sharing it with me.
This post was inspired by an article on agent Rachelle Gardner's blog entitled ‘Will My Publisher Let Me Self-Publish Too?” which sparked a lot of passionate comment and offended me over the aspect of permission. Rachelle has since published a Mea Culpa article.
Top image: Stamp permission granted from Big Stock Photo
He-he, love it!
You don’t quite say, but reading between the lines “Blogging and self publishing changes you, after being slapped in the face so many times, rightly or wrongly, you learn to trust yourself. Besides what’s one more slap in the face.”
Yeah, I know – you didn’t say this. Maybe I have a perverse way of reading.
Always love your stuff Joanna, wishing you the very best success (and fewer slaps to the head.)
Hi Joanna,
I sincerely think that we should write about what we feel, whether it be fiction, non fiction, whatever. We live in the 21st century and as an author I live in this century. Why should we be told what to write and what not to write? If a book contains strong language, for example, the choice is the readers. Do film producers need permission to make films?
Best regards,
David.
This does indeed resonate with me! Thanks for saying it so beautifully.
There will always be those who are frightened of creativity and will work to stifle yours. Steve Jobs famously warned against the trap of “living with the results of other people’s thinking.” Fortunately, I was blessed with inspiring teachers and mentors who encouraged me.
I chose to ignore the high school public speaking teacher who commented about a presentation of mine, “There’s such a thing as too much creativity.” I’m more in tune with Ayn Rand’s advice, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” I’ve had a lot of success and more than my share of fun being “too creative.”
I’ve written for publication since I was a teenager, and I taught Presentation Skills in the international corporate environment for 40 years before I retired. What if I had believed that dreary man? I wouldn’t have seen the world and its abundance of joys. You can listen politely to anyone’s advice, but you have to live your life on your own terms, believing in yourself. Even against all odds.
Amen! I might have read the same literary agent article that set off your fury today. It did the same for me. Keep up the good work.
Love this so much! Thank you for writing it! It is ALL so true!
Very well put. It seems to get to the heart of the principle of free speech as well as the process of creativity. It seems to me to be unrelated to whether other people will like or agree or feel the need to argue vociferously against whatever you have published. What’s that quote – something about not agreeing with what you say, but defending to the death your right to say it? (and to write it!)
For a California girl in the early 1960’s, the world of literature was in the far off land of New York City. None of my friends went to a 4 year college; we were encouraged to be secretaries, teachers, nurses, bank tellers and telephone operators…not CEO’s, Principals, Doctors, Bank Managers or Internet Moguls.
Marriage and family came next.
This is a comment from one who wrote for her own satisfaction for many years.
With computer and self-pub’ing, the ceiling has been broken and everything is now possible.
Hi Joanna
This is a brilliant post.
I love what you have written, your passion and encouragement. One thing my late great mother once told me – to write and be published is not a privilege it is your right. Your blog and articles echo the encouragement she always gave me – Write on sister!
That is so true Joanna,
And thanks for the personal communication too. I agree with you and with David J Cooper. For too long the publishers have called the shots and operated, basically, a closed shop. Surely, we must have publishers. But we also need responsible publishing and we need to make it clear as a community that the day when the publisher called the shots is fast ending.
We have to move with the times. Just as society found itself catapulted from an age of candles into electricity – and many dissenting voices at first saying it was a fad and would never catch on – so too we have publishers trying to convince us at Writers’ Conferences around the world, that self-publishing is a bit of a flash-in-the-pan, and will never catch on in the long term. Oh yeah? Well to the publishers and agents I say this: watch this space. Get with the times.
The publisher’s principal weapon is their desire to censor. They won’t call it that of course. But they do censor; often quite innocuously – ‘I like your manuscript but I feel it’s 20 years too late. But take heart and see this rejection slip as a valuable signpost along the way…” And almost as an afterthought, “Do keep writing.”
I wonder what the many former literary agents in the States (and now happening here in the UK) are thinking when they recall how they treated the manuscripts submitted to them? What ever went wrong, they’re thinking, to cause our position in the chain of events that leads to a book being published and me getting a big stake in the author’s advance I’ve negotiated? How on earth did I not see self-publishing coming when in fact it was approaching at the speed of InterCity!
Harsh words I know. But the writing is on the wall. It is time to break free.
In short, as a community, let us boot the publishing industry into touch.
Last year I watched a panel of publishers and agents facing an auditorium of writers and poets, many of them highly successful, published and self-published. It all started off with a hint of the X Factor – self-confident and self-assured.
Forty-five minutes later the two agents had been all but silenced, and the principal publisher’s brow was sweating so much that it was dripping from his chin. He clearly did not like being there. To say that the panel received a rucking is putting it mildly.
I learned much that day.
Thanks Joanna, and do stay very much in communication.
Let us step forward together as a community.
We can do it.
We are doing it!
And it is this that frightens publishers and agents the most.
Best regards,
Ian.
As many of us know that having the freedom of expression also comes with self control.
I find self publishing more challenging than traditional publishing, because I have to pay more attention to detail with the supervision of proof readers and editors. A book designer asked me to pay $3000 just to format my new book and I have to pay for proofreading. So, anyone who thinks self publishing is cheap has not really started self-publishing.
So, our permission to publish than perish is our own cross from our sanctuary to Calvary and to our victory.
Thank you, Joanna. It was crying out to be said. No more taming the crazy!
My book “Much Ado about Music” has now been turned down by three literary agents. I wanted to put my Preface for that book here, but it didn’t work so I’ll take a chance and put it here in full (apologies for taking all this space):
It was not my intention to write a novel. I was content to write short stories to help overcome my hatred of writing. That hatred started in elementary school, when we were told we must write a story on: “What I did in the Summer”. A blank sheet of paper has always induced instant writer’s block in me. My summers passed in a blaze of glory, to be remembered, but certainly not written about. Years later, I found myself writing chemistry research papers and books, still far from enjoying it.
My secret seems to be that I did not have to look at a blank paper or screen. At my computer my fingers knew what they were doing. It was almost like playing the violin, as I closed my eyes and thought of each of my characters. That’s why I wrote most of the novel in the first person, present tense. The four characters that populate “Much Ado about Music” took their places in the story. As I assumed each character in my mind, my friends and relations never knew on any given day whether I was Erik or perhaps even Lisa. They gave me space however.
I owe a great debt to my partner Jane Steel, who kept encouraging me when the going was tough and the sky looked so cloudy. My daughters, Kathy and Wendy, were both eager and willing readers. Wendy was always ready with the answer to my questions. She also did a dedicated job of proof-editing. Of course any remaining misplaced or even dangling modifiers as well as misplaced chronology must remain my fault. My son-in-law Bill Richards produced a cover design, despite my constant insistence that my Vincenzo Sannino violin be part of that design.
It was frustrating for early readers who wanted to know what was going to happen. I could never answer those questions because, until I sat down at my computer, I had no idea myself what was going to happen. I occasionally opened my computer in the morning and found a chapter I didn’t realize I had written. It was exciting.
My amateur musician friends tolerated my emulation of Joe in his early playing days. I must thank those friends for putting up with me. They taught me, as well as themselves, how to play and enjoy chamber music.
There must be something in the air. I just posted on a very similar theme. It takes a lot of courage to live this life – to be a writer or artist. You put so much of yourself out there in the form of your work, and it is hard to be vulnerable like that. I struggle with being myself, with being too real in my posts and stories. There are a lot of nasty people in the world, too, and I find myself walking away from discussions out of fear, at times.
I echo what Margaret said, above: I also struggle to hit the “post” button or read a new story in my writing circle.
I love that you try to encourage others and have such a great outlook on this. I especially love what you’ve written about permission and can’t help but wonder if this is something women struggle with a bit more. In my 20s, I started this sort of game with my mom. When I had a difficult decision to make, or felt myself censuring myself or wavering on doing what was right for me, I would call up my mom and “ask for permission.” She was in on the game and would always say, “Jennifer, I give you permission to do what is right for you,” or, “Jennifer, I give you permission to say no!” It seems kind of funny, now that I’m typing it out, but I needed that in my 20s. I didn’t feel strong enough to give myself that “permission.” I don’t know what that says about me, but there it is. I still struggle with it to this day, but I’m definitely much better at it.
But, I’m glad that you are done “taming the crazy.” Rock out, with your crazy out!
Thanks Joanna, Here in Wisconsin and other states it actually runs deeper than what you describe. There is a big push in industries to have task management for all workers. In this horrid system, you no longer may independently plan your work and work your plan, you know, just go ahead in self reliance and get the job done. No, no, our work ethic has become so poor, that now management needs/wants to supervise every move, to do only that task assigned, then punch your card for a new task. Only thin is, they allot time per job as if zombies set the ground rules, so far less gets done, but hey, its ‘controlled’ and okay. Does this stink or what. No self expression, everyone is the same, whether young or old, or able, or man or woman, or even off drugs enough to do the job. There, how’s my rant today?
On the plus side, we as writers don’t have to stand for this. We are and are able to be independent thinkers, creative people who may have enough self drive to open our own doors- way opposite of how many industries are heading. So – Good for you. go get ’em tiger lady.
Joanna,
I DID read that blog post this week, and I could literally hear my soapbox rattling around under my bed like the Book of Monsters in Harry Potter.
The thing is, so many–and I mean, SO MANY!–literary agents are supportive of hybrid authors, of self-publishing, etc. and to have one so prominent make it out to be a rebellious or rogue act was demoralizing and pithy. That agent now claims that we readers should have “known” what was intended by that post – it was supposedly to keep us informed from the publishers’ side of the story – but the truth of the matter is, this agent has a tendency to tout the necessity of having an agent and going the traditional publishing route almost exclusively, so how else was the post referenced supposed to be taken? The ironic thing is that this agent has recently self-published, and is now using THAT as the reason why readers should have been able to read between the lines of the post.
I did not comment on the agent’s post because I felt so disappointed in the whole system when I read it. It’s as though those of us who publish hybridly (btw, I’m represented by an agency who included in my contract the freedom to self-publish and keep my rights to those items self-published, but who is actively submitting my other books to traditional houses, too, and I have yet to hear from a publisher that they won’t let me self-publish if I want to sign with them) are kinda like the dirty mistresses of publishing, the ones who are willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means compromising our integrity. Pshaw! I believe we’re the courageous ones, the ones who are going to rise to the top, who are going to be the household names, because we’re doing it all, and we’re doing it RIGHT. (If you like it, then you better put a ring on it.)
Okay. I’m done. I’m REALLY REALLY REALLY glad you took the time to post about this. I’ve learned so much from you, and I’m always encouraged by your message. And honestly, I’ve learned a lot from said agent, but more and more, I’m beginning to believe that agent has sold him/herself to the dark side, regardless of how much he/she denies it.
Eh.
The Voice. It’s one of the most popular shows on TV right now. Yes, it’s about singing but it’s also about courage and permission and fear…..conquered. It’s also about honoring a still, quiet voice inside that never, ever steers us wrong. The inner critic has a different kind of voice. We all know which is which. Thank you for evolving in front of the rest of us. Your courage is a constant propellor—-who know how many have listened to their own inner voice get louder and louder because of you. Chills of gratitude.
Joanna,
I’ve loved and followed your blog pretty much since the beginning. I think you really rock ’cause you are authentic. It just shows through your writing. Also, you are so generous in sharing resources, planting great seeds of success for yourself and others. Keep on hitting that “publish” button.
I resonate very much. Before I started to blog about 8 years ago (I’ve had several blogs), I never shared my writing with the world. Then, when my first book came out, it really hit home that I was officially a writer. One of my writing teachers said that we write ’cause we want an audience. Truth be told, I’d still consider myself a writer if all I ever did was stay in my PJ’s and write in my journal, but of course, that doesn’t help me or others. 🙂
Definitely agree Joanna. I love the old classic fairy tales and now you have to change so much of what made them original. Everyone seems to be writing in a copy-cat format. I decided to self-publish myself a couple of years ago and I’m glad I did.
I think your change is very subtle but noticeable when you listen through your fab podcasts, especially if you listen to them in quick succession. I frequently listen back to the old ones and smile and feel inspired by how far you’ve travelled.