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I came across this where she discusses how we can’t fight the future.

I agree that we can’t fight the future. Things are in a constant state of change. It’s been like that for as long as man’s been around. New things are always emerging. Someone had to invent the wheel. Someone had to invent the number 0. Someone had to invent paper to write on. As a human species, we’re always looking for ways to build upon what came before us. The way writers get their stories into the world will see its share of changes, just like everything else. I’m the first to admit that I don’t like change. I wish things would remain the same, but things don’t stay the same, so we have to figure out a way to adapt.

As I was listening to Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s post, three main thoughts came to me that made me feel better about the future. I thought I would share them in this post in case they can help someone else.

1. Good storytelling matters.

In a world that is constantly changing, this is the one constant we can depend on. I don’t care what format pops up with how books are consumed. Whether it’s oral, paperback, ebook, audio, serial, or visual, people still want a good story. They want to be entertained. If you can master the art of storytelling, you have a huge advantage. I realize that visibility is the problem. Finding an audience for our books is what we’ve always had to figure out. But if you have a poorly written story, it doesn’t matter how many people find it. If you’re not a good storyteller, you’ll never survive long term as a writer.

This is comforting news. And this is why I believe writing what we love is so important. When we love what we’re writing, we will naturally do our best work. The goal of writing for passion isn’t to appeal to every reader out there. The goal is to appeal to the readers who love the stuff you’re writing. I realize in an atmosphere that lauds the “six-figure author�, writing what you love isn’t sexy. But there is value in writing something that comes from the heart. A good story is timeless.

2. Take it in baby steps.

There is so much out there available to us as writers. When I read through some posts in writing groups on marketing, I get overwhelmed by how much is out there, and there seems to be new things coming out all the time. That’s why I think it’s best to focus on one or two new things you see emerging. Ideally, the thing you choose is something you have an interest in. If you’re interested in it, you’re likely to make the most of it. Also, I think it should be something you understand.

Off the top of my head, the big changes I see coming are AI narration and AI to help with writing. Because of my eye issues, I am a huge fan of AI narration. I am working with that already. But, I’m not a fan of AI helping with writing unless you need help with a book description or if you’re brainstorming for ideas. I think the actual writing should be done by the writer. You don’t know how AI is getting the input to “write a story�. I realize that right now we’re still in the stages where AI’s storytelling is clunky and sometimes humorous, but you could be unknowingly plagiarizing from someone else’s work. If you do your own writing, you don’t have to worry about plagiarism because you’ll be doing the storytelling yourself. Another change I’ve heard about has something to do with blockchain. Even after listening to a podcast on it, I still don’t understand it, so I will not be doing it.

I think one day technology might take us to a time where we could use AI computerized actors to create a movie or TV episodes where people will be able to watch our story instead of reading it. I remember experimenting with a program back in 2010 (I think) where there were two computerized people in a static setting. If you put in the words for the people to say, the program would process it so that the people said whatever you wanted them to. Now these two people barely moved, and they sounded robotic. You couldn’t make anything decent from it. But it was fun to use this to create a couple of scenes from my books. I don’t remember the name of this program, but it was fun to play around with. I think the day will come where writers can create a character (looks, age, etc), create a setting for this character to be in, and create other characters for this character to interact with. Eventually, writers could create a movie from their books. This is something that would be a lot of fun, and AI would make this cost effective for the writer and the person who consumes the story.

Change can be scary, but it can be exciting, too. I think it’s just important to take things in small doses so you don’t get overwhelmed.

3. Work with your strengths.

I think it’s best to work with your strengths when you decide what new thing you’re going to try out. I see no point in working in a weak area unless your goal is to improve it. For example, I’m weak in oral communication. That’s why I don’t bother with videos. I also don’t give speeches. I’ve tried them, and I sucked. I am much better off being the person behind the scenes. That’s why I have this blog, and I ended up writing speeches for others to give. I think wherever your strengths are, that is where you will do best.

You have to know yourself in order to best gear your marketing efforts to where they will do their best work. It’s not fun to take inventory of your shortcomings, but, by doing so, you can avoid a lot of frustration down the road. We are not all created equal. We all have our own unique set of talents. Just because someone is able to reach an audience by doing something, it doesn’t mean that method will be right for you. Say, for example, they swear by TikTok videos. Quite a few authors in a writing group on Facebook swear by them. Maybe they have an online presence that resonates with people. Some people shine in a video setting. That is their strength. If you have that gift, go for it. If you don’t, you can choose something that works better for you. Don’t let people talk you into doing something that doesn’t work for you, and don’t let people make you feel guilty if choose to do something that does work for you (but doesn’t work for them). It’s okay to go down your own path. The world is big enough for multiple ways of promoting your books.