Ricky Black's Blog

Progress (Or Lack thereof) Update Why I Write Erotica

2019 – Week 1

It’s been an interesting week.

I’ve been waiting for 2019. Not in the ‘New Year New Me’ sense, but more because it represents a revised beginning where I learn to do better.

For the last year or so, I’ve held a belief that all the pieces were there. I just lacked the motivation, which added to the overall frustration I was feeling. Writing is difficult. Writing geared toward others is worse for me, mostly because I’m aloof and I keep myself to myself. I’ve had confidence issues, not with my writing ability (most of the time), but with my ability to sell my book. I’ve touched on this before, so I won’t harp on about my issues with marketing. I’ll instead focus on what is working.

In May 2018, my close friend and manager came up with a writing plan to get me back on track after a forgettable 5 months. It was an excellent plan, very granular, highlighting what I needed to do with each of my open projects. I used it throughout the summer, finishing and editing four projects, several of which I’d had on the shelf for years. I hit the wall when I started work on the next draft of the Target sequel, Takedown. I outlined 100 pages, focusing on each scene piece by piece. I knew where the story was going, but after a while I wanted to write other things, something the plan wasn’t built for. As the plan was geared around deadlines and completing projects by a certain date before moving onto the next, it sputtered out and I just stopped writing the sequel after 19 chapters.

The next few months were spent working on various shorts. I had my mailing list set up, but no-one was downloading my book. I didn’t know how to get sign-ups and I didn’t want to just ask people to sign up, so I did what I always do when my back is to the wall. I wrote. I posted short stories on Instagram, tying in characters relating to my books Target and Homecoming. I started to gain buzz, ran some FB ads, and a few subscribers started trickling in. I made the decision to focus more on Instagram, where I felt I was more established and frankly, where I had more fun. I stepped up my writing game and worked at engaging more with my audience. I learned to switch off the voice in my head screaming that marketing was cheap, and I became more comfortable talking about writing and books and structure with my friends on IG. I ran another promo for Target in December, people were downloading and for a while, I was shooting up the ranks. It reinvigorated me and showed if I took it seriously and didn’t retreat into my writing zone when it grew too hard, I could have what I wanted.

I set a new plan in place, one which allowed me more freedom to flit between projects. Within 4 days of the new year, I’d written 16,000 words of the projected 25,000 word target, and still found time to work on other projects, outline new work, and read several books – one of which I’d been trying to read since November.

It’s only a few days into the year, but I’m ready and motivated. Given enough time and continued work, I’ll show people why they should become part of what I’m building.

Have you had a similar start to the year? Comment below or drop me an email.

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