Leadership & Authorship

I’m helping students analyze Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage.

The book chronicles the amazing survival and struggles of 28 men stranded on the Antarctic ice floes for almost 2 years during a 1914 expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

It’s really a book about LEADERSHIP and endurance and willpower.

As the class and I discuss the book, it HITS me!

An author needs the traits of a leader to succeed in this new age of publishing and self-promoting.

While there are many leadership traits, here’s a list most relevant to authorship.

Diligence: “Overnight success takes 10 years.” That’s a quote with which most of us are familiar. An author must show dedication to:

the craft of writing
embracing the kit & kaboodle that comes with establishing a readership
working the required hours to build a platform
learning the “business”
writing, re-writing, and editing–editing–editing–editing…

Persistence: “Never, never, never give up.” Churchill understood the importance and value of persistence. Just don’t confuse stubbornness with persistence.

Understanding: An author needs to be well-versed in several fields

genre particularities & requirements–and when/if/how to break the rules
the craft of writing–specifically the effects of syntax, grammar, tone, symbol, motif, structure, characterization, diction, POV, dialog, plot, setting, allusion, & foreshadow
Social media methodologies, techniques, problems, & tools
algorithms & ranking
personal website/blog advanced operational tasks
manipulating and proficiency in Word/PhotoShop/Excel/PowerPoint and other computer applications/programs

Confrontation: No conflict–no novel. Pitting bad against good is typical. But confrontations between good against good? Or bad against bad? Better. And of course, it helps to know when NOT to confront a reader, Facebook friend, Twitter follower, reviewer, agent, or publisher (oh, the stories I could share)

Ambition: We all know people who talk the ambitious talk–but don’t have any follow through. Success–for most of us–takes hard work, long hours and includes lots of angst and setbacks. Ambitious folks don’t make excuses.

Organization: Yep, I know there’s many “pantsers” out there and kudos to you for having the innate ability to craft a story that way, but there’s other reasons why organization is important. An author needs to:

schedule writing time with work, family, promotion
track social media promotions, blog tours etc
establish/maintain a query/agent/publisher data sheet
catalog research
create flow chart/timeline/spreadsheet of chapters
track business tax info & receipts

Punctuality: Authors with publishing contracts have no choice. Indie authors might be tempted to slack off. Create your own deadlines and keep them!

Street Smarts: A necessary survival skill in any business. One needs to stay au courant with:

social media trends & language
publishing /agent lingo & trends
learning one bit of information and applying it effectively in another media/venue
scams to publish, edit, promote, review your work for money
dishonest or overconfident folks claiming to have skills in editing, reviewing, promoting

Versatility/Flexibility: Rigidity gets you nowhere fast. An author needs to roll with the proverbial punches with regards to:

social media trends ( what’s hot– what’s not)
correcting writing/novel problems
managing promotions
learning to multi-task
balancing coffee cup over keyboard

Loyalty: Authors should be true to:

their brand/platform
friends who help promote
their own work
improving their knowledge of the craft
time spent actually writing

Problem solving: Authors have many problems to solve:

plotting the arc of the story
grammar no-no’s
breaking bad habits ( for example: poor time management)
HTML coding irregularities
ebook formatting
creating new blogging topics
promotion quandaries

And let’s not forget Creativity: Leaders must think creatively..to innovate..to energize…to evaluate…to problem solve..to write…to promote…to accomplish the above mentioned tasks.