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Famous Authors Who Nail Their Marketing & What You Can Learn From Them

Kylie Fennell

The idea of marketing yourself as an author can be understandably overwhelming, especially if you are in the early stages of your writing journey.

Aspiring authors may wonder what they can do to enhance their chances of making money from their future books. Recently published authors may question what they can do to increase their profile and book sales.

The answer to both of these conundrums is to look to authors who have made it big and see what we can learn from their approach to marketing.

Before we go any further, let me pre-empt and clear up one of the most common misconceptions about this topic. That is, the belief that “marketing is easy for authors who are already famous. They have an audience to market to”.

Let’s lay that one to rest straight away. I would go as far as saying that without exception the most successful authors put the time and effort into their marketing well before they were well-known.

Even if you are starting with an audience of one, it’s better than not starting at all. The sooner you can get a headstart on your marketing the better.

Across the board, successful authors took steps to connect with and give to their audience or ‘community’ early on.

Here are some other key marketing lessons we can learn from famous authors.

J.K. Rowling – Leverage Your World-Building

Let’s be honest, I could spend all day unpacking the genius that is J.K. Rowling but in this post, I’m going to focus on just one element of her marketing strategy.

The Harry Potter series came with in-built marketing opportunities, thanks to Rowling’s detailed world-building and fully fleshed-out characters.

Rowling continues to share character insights and tidbits about the series today through the Pottermore site. Fans can join the Pottermore community for free and complete quizzes that will uncover your wizarding identity, Hogwarts House, Patronus and more.

Content from this site is also shared across social media platforms to continue to feed fans and enthusiasm for the Potter brand.

If you have gone to the trouble of creating rich characters and places, you should look for ways to leverage this knowledge.

This is particularly the case for fantasy writers who often go to extreme lengths for world-building, in terms of language, locations, magic and more.

Look for ways to share little snippets from your books and world on social media and your website that may not even appear in your written work. The more you share, the more real your world becomes and the more likely fans are to engage in it and invest in your work.

Know and Appreciate Your Fan-base

E.L. James – Fan Fiction

Fifty Shades of Grey is one of those books that when mentioned at a writer event is likely to spark a fierce debate about its artistic merit. I tried to read it and 80 pages in decided it wasn’t for me. However, no one can deny that there is obviously a market for this kind of fiction and I’m of the belief that those who don’t like it don’t need to stick their nose up at it.

I for one celebrate the fact that E.L. James wrote a book series that was highly successful (at one point it was said to be selling paperback copies faster than the Harry Potter series) and her fans LOVE it.

This brings me to the marketing lesson of knowing and appreciating your fan base, and E.L. James absolutely nailed that.

James promoted Fifty Shades of Grey in several ways before it went from relative self-published obscurity to a worldwide phenomenon.

It was originally fan fiction for the Twilight series where her episodic pieces soon gained a fan-base.

She nurtured and continually fed this community with regular content she knew her fans would love, until changing the names of the characters, and putting the book on her website.

James also gained grass-roots support by reaching out to relevant book bloggers.

A major part of her success was making her content accessible (and initially free via fan fiction) and nurturing her following.

Elizabeth Gilbert – Facebook Community

If you’re looking for an example of an author who understands her fanbase and how to create a Facebook community, go no further than Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic.  

Of all of her communication and social platforms, Gilbert appears to engage most on her Facebook page. She tends to use Facebook as a mini-blogging platform with lengthy posts addressed to her community. Many of the posts start with the phrase, ‘Dear Ones’, where she speaks directly to each member of her community with honest,
insightful and heartfelt posts that are a signature of her brand.

The lesson here is, it doesn’t matter how or where you choose to develop your community, as long as you do make the effort to do so.

Understand your fans and speak directly to them, giving them the content they want.

Joanna Penn – The Self-publishing and Author Marketing Guru

In the self-publishing world, Joanna Penn provides an authoritative and highly engaging voice for authors wanting to market themselves.

Author of Successful Self-Publishing: How to self-publish and market your book, Penn has the highly successful Creative Penn podcast and at her site, provides extensive resources and tips on how to market yourself.

Penn is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, so knows her stuff and is generous with her knowledge.

There is not enough room here to cover all of her marketing lessons but two quotes from Successful Self-Publishing encapsulates the core of her philosophy and what we all can learn from.

“Writing is about you. Publishing is about the book. Marketing is about the reader.”

“Branding is your promise to the reader. It’s the words, images, and emotions that surround your work and the way readers think of you.”

Scott Pape ‘The Barefoot Investor’ – Give Freely

When it comes to non-fiction in Australia, no one has reached the same heights of success in recent times as Scott Pape with The Barefoot Investor.

Pape’s book sold 250,000 copies in the first six months of its release and has topped Australia’s best-selling book lists month-on-end, ahead of non-fiction and fiction titles.

A lot of Pape’s success comes down to his branding nous and giving freely to the audience.

At his website, you can access loads of free resources and content. Visitors to his site then have the option of purchasing his book or joining his membership program.

The idea of giving free stuff to visitors to your site (or via other channels) is that you are giving them a taster and reward for connecting with you. It provides a gateway and conversation starter to encourage them to buy your book, product or services.

The lesson here is to offer something for free such as blog articles or downloadable resources.

You should also include a call to action to sign-up for regular content such as a newsletter where you can promote your paid assets, and potentially convert prospects to sales.

You may also like to have a higher value item such as the first few pages of your book, a short story, or exclusive resources, on your site that can only be accessed by providing an email first.

Finally, make your paid products for sale and very visible on your site, preferably only one click away from your free content.

These are just a few lessons from famous authors and tips to get started with your marketing. What are you waiting for? Get started today!

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5 Life Changing Books Every Writer Needs to Read Today

Kylie Fennell

I love being a writer. It is all I have ever wanted to do, but doing it for a living and balancing it among other work and life priorities can be downright hard. Whenever I do need a boost, inspiration, motivation or writing tips I turn to a few key books – here are what I think are the top books every writer needs to read.

1. Living as a Creative – Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert

I’m a scaredy-cat by nature. Many writers I have come across are. For me, fear goes along with my overly active imagination that always asks ‘what if?’.

It’s great for fiction writing but not so good for getting over those fears of ‘am I really any good at this?’, ‘should I just give up?’, and any version of the ‘I’m a fraud’ factor many of us are regularly afflicted by. 

What I love about Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” is that it deals with all of these fears and more. Gilbert encourages the writer to accept fear and invite it along on your journey, but never to let it in the “driving seat”. Beautifully written and packed with useful heart-felt advice on how to live a creative life.

2. Making Money as a Writer – How to be a Writer, John Birmingham

One of the most quoted lines from this book is ‘Beauty is good, but coin is better. You can’t eat artistic integrity. It tastes like sawdust.’ It is the perfect summary of the theme of Birmingham’s book.

If you’ve ever wanted to make money from writing, be it as a freelancer, a features writer or author, then this is the book for you.

Notice though I didn’t say it was for poets…Birmingham doesn’t have any useful advice for poets, but he does have a wicked sense of humour – he really knows his sh…stuff.

There’s plenty of expert tips and laughs along the way starting with the tongue in cheek full title: How to Be a Writer: Who Smashes Deadlines, Crushes Editors and Lives in a Solid Gold Hovercraft.  

Topics covered include ‘How to slay writer’s block’, ‘What the hell is workflow?’, ‘How to write 10,000 words in a day’ and ‘The best apps for writers’. Hard-core, real-world practical advice. Read it if you dare!

3. Mastering Language –On Writing, Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a guide to mastering language, written by the master himself.

Helpful advice, tips and instruction on using language is threaded among personal anecdotes and memoir.

King uses his life and writing experience, as well as examples from his own novels, to illustrate technical writing points. He shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. If you’re a Stephen King fan you will get a serious kick out of this. Even if you’re not – and I don’t read much of his stuff (I told you I’m a scaredy cat) – you will still find it incredibly helpful.

For one, I share King’s hate for passive voice. If you catch me doing it feel free to tag me with a narky tweet. Scratch that. For all I know I’ve dropped a few clangers in this post. 

He also declares war on adverbs, which has led me to revisit my own work and weed out the little buggers but also live in perpetual fear of them. So I’d say King’s ‘On Writing’ mission is accomplished in terms of improving my writing.

4. Putting Yourself Out There – What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn), Seth Godin

I have mentioned this book more than once in my blog posts, for several reasons.

Firstly, I have a massive writing and marketing crush on Seth Godin. Love your guts mate!

Secondly, this book is freakin’ awesome.

What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn is an urgent call to action to writers and other creative types to stop waiting ‘for their turn’ and to send their art out to the world.

He goes further, saying we owe it to the world to share our craft, whether the world likes it or not. It’s not the world’s job to love us, it’s our job to just put ourselves and our art out there – embracing all the challenges along the way.

I love how Godin simultaneously inspires and gives the reader the kick up the butt they need while also delivering necessary reality checks.

5. Understanding Story – Steering The Craft, Ursula Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin has created this deceptively simple guide focusing on the craft of story and narrative.

Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story covers the main components of narrative, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view.

Le Guin combines illustrative examples with her own witty commentary, as well as exercises. She also includes advice on working in writing groups.

These are just some of the books I have loved and found incredibly valuable for improving my writing.

What books for writers do you recommend?

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Avengers Belonging

3 Things Infinity War Can Teach Us About Belonging

Kylie Fennell

So many of us struggle at one time or another to find where we belong. From kindergarten to university, to the communities we live in, our jobs, and in our relationships – we all want that feeling of belonging. We want to feel we are a part of something, and we can be ourselves.

Even superheroes aren’t immune to this. They need to belong too, at least that’s some of the takeaway messages we got from Avenger’s Infinity War.

  1. Don’t be intimidated  

Picture Wakanda Kingdom. Vision is lying on the examination table while Shuri and Bruce Banner are working on getting the mind stone off him. In just a couple of statements, Shuri makes it known that she is far more intelligent than Bruce and his team (including Iron Man). Bruce Banner must have been blown away by Wakanda’s advanced technology. Interestingly, we don’t see him getting mad or sad because of this. Bruce doesn’t let Shuri’s intelligence intimidate him.

There will always be someone better than you but that doesn’t diminish your value. Don’t let someone else make you feel like you have nothing to offer. Take time and find what you are really good at then connect with people whose interests mirror yours. Recognise that we all have strengths and weaknesses and can learn from each other. If you can’t find a group that values you, look elsewhere. Your tribe is out there, and if you can’t find it, create your own.

  1. Work with others

Have you ever wondered why Thor’s new stormbreaker weapon wasn’t used to destroy all the outriders? Or why Scarlet Witch couldn’t just burn them all? It would have made life so much easier right? Now I’m not a Marvel expert, so I don’t know what legitimate explanations there may be for this not happening, but I do know that even superheroes need help if they are to succeed.

In life, we need each other and working with others creates the bond that we all need. It’s just how we are built. Ask for help when you need it and remember to offer it as well. Don’t let pride get in the way – remember without Groot lifting stormbreaker and providing its handle, Thor’s mighty axe would have been forged.

  1. Don’t let ambition overtake kindness   

Thanos’ ambition was so great that he sacrificed his children to get what he wanted. He sacrificed Gamora, the one person he loved the most in the world, to achieve his ambition.

Ambition is good but it should not make you insensitive to the needs of others. At one point in your life, you will have the chance to be a part of something you treasure. Something that makes you feel like you belong. In your quest, don’t let ambition become so great that it blinds you to the needs of others or leads you to hurt them.

Infinite Opportunities to Belong

If we can realise that likeminded people are looking for the same connection and that by working together and staying sensitive to the needs of others, there is no telling just how far and how deeply we can connect and belong. Just take a look around and you will find ‘infinite’ opportunities to belong and make a difference.

Belonging is a key theme in my fiction writing. To stay in the know about my writing projects and to receive regular writing tips and articles like this, sign up here.

5 Tips For Writers to Boost Creativity

Kylie Fennell

Creativity has many definitions but when it comes to writing it often refers to the innovative use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.

Whenever we write we’re creating something, but our level of innovation may feel like another matter.

Some days we feel the muse with us, but on other days, weeks and months even, we remain in pursuit of “creativity”.

On our worst days, we’re very good at admonishing ourselves for our lack of creativity and wonder if it will ever arrive or return to us.

The good news is that you can stop wondering. There are lots of things we can do to boost our creativity.

Creativity: Is it Innate or Acquired?

Creativity has been labeled as something innate, but the truth is, creativity is actually a skill that can be enhanced by challenging yourself to go beyond your capabilities.

Here are some techniques you can use to foster your creativity.

1. Restrict yourself

Have you read about Dr Seuss and how Green Eggs & Ham came about? This famous story is said to have been written after Dr Seuss accepted a bet that he couldn’t produce a story using less than 50 words. Of course he proved it was possible with the wildly successful Green Eggs & Ham.

You can mimic Dr Seuss’ success by placing restrictions on yourself. For instance, entering writing competitions with set themes or prompts can help focus your writing and force you to be creative.

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

2. Re-conceptualise any problems

Attributed to Einstein is a saying that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and leave the remaining 5 minutes to think about solutions.  

Creative people often reconceptualise problems a couple of times before they start a creative task.

It is better to rethink any problems from different perspectives instead of being fixed on one solution or the end goal.

3. Monotask

It has been shown that people are terrible at creating a new work when they are preoccupied with a lot of other things. This scenario happens when you are attempting to multitask. It is best to not interrupt yourself as you start working on your writing projects.

Even if you only have 5 or 15 minutes to write at a time, for that short period be focused on the writing and nothing else.

If ideas come to you when you are doing something else – and they often do – take down notes in an app, your phone or jot it down on paper.

In fact, when you’re really stuck, it can help to do something completely mundane such as housework, or take a walk or a shower to clear your head. Stepping away from the problem or keyboard for a moment can really increase creativity.

4. Stay Positive

Our best creations often happen when we are in a strong positive mood. Negative moods can inhibit creativity, while the feeling of being happy can fuel our creative minds. Trying to remain positive about your project on the worst days can be challenging, but is necessary to keep moving forward to foster your creativity. Just keep flexing your writing muscle and remind yourself that any words you write are a step closer to your end goal, and better writing days will come.

5. Use counterfactual thinking

Counterfactual thinking or the state of asking yourself the question of “What might have been?” is found to increase your creativity. You can try to take events that have happened in the past (to your characters for example) and re-imagine them in different circumstances. For example, if you are trying to solve a problem, try adding “what if” questions to the elements that could have an effect on the outcome.

As you can see creativity is something you can definitely boost and nurture with a few simple techniques. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get creative.

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How to Stay Motivated When Writing a Novel

Kylie Fennell

Passion is what drives many of us to undertake the Herculean task of writing a novel. However, even the most passionate writers suffer from lack of the motivation from time to time.

Motivation is important no matter what you do. In order to stay motivated, writers need to have techniques and tools to help them finish their novel.

Tips for Staying Motivated

I know how hard it is to summon motivation once you suffer from writer’s block or lack self belief in your writing. It’s a common experience for many of us, as we go through that cycle of one day marveling at our writing and the next wondering ‘who wrote this rot?’.

Below are some tips that work for me. They will help you find the drive to complete your novel and get through the worst days. Keep in mind that not every technique will work for every writer. Staying motivated is a continuous process and finding the right method is a case of trial and error.

  1. Create a Writing Routine

You should keep a writing schedule and stick to it. Even if you are not in the mood to write, just do it anyway. You should set yourself small goals that are achievable.

If you can commit to writing a single page or a minimum of 500 words daily. Before you know it, you will be halfway through your novel.

Writing daily may not work for you, but setting aside a regular time each week is important to stay on track and maintain momentum.

  1. Get Rid of All Distractions

There are many distractions around you. Before you start writing, put your phone on silent, and turn off email notifications. Look for a place where you can focus on writing and nothing else. If you have limited time, consider writing in a short burst or snatches of time throughout the day.

  1. Set a Reward for Yourself

If you have completed your goal for the day, don’t forget to reward yourself. The reward doesn’t need to be big. The reward may be a slice of cake, or watching an episode of your favourite TV show, whatever works for you.

  1. Do Something Else

When you are struggling to find the motivation to write, do something else. There are days when you can’t find the words no matter how hard you try. When you find yourself in that position, find something else to do aside from writing.

You can go for a run around the block or go for a walk. Stepping away from the computer even for 5 minutes can work wonders. Some of the best ideas come when you are doing something not related to writing. Some people (not me I have to admit) report getting great ideas while doing housework.

  1. Be a Continuous Learner

There is always room for improvement no matter how much you have written. Learning about your craft should be a positive thing and an important part of your process for completing your novel. You should read other novels by different authors, and across loads of genres, as well as attend author events and festivals. Talk to other writers and learn how they maintain their motivation while writing. Look for a like-minded writers group or online community that will keep you connected to the process and provide support and motivation when you most need it.     

And when all else fails…just write. Write anything but just write. The more you flex that writing muscle the easier it becomes over time. So what are you waiting for? Stop reading this and get to it.

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Why You Don’t Need a ‘Pitch’ to Successfully Pitch

Kylie Fennell

I’m a writer. I’ve been writing for a living for more years than I care to remember.

At risk of sounding up myself, I aint too shabby when it comes to putting a few words together.

I can be pretty damn persuasive as well, when I want to be.

There’s one caveat though.

I may be the cat’s meow (at least that’s what I like to think on a good day) when it comes to putting together compelling messages, pitches, stories, articles, ads…pretty much anything really, as long as it’s in the written form.

But when it comes to delivering the same type of content verbally, it quickly goes pear-shaped.

Anyone who knows me, will say I have no problem talking. They’ll probably say I can talk the leg off a chair. I reckon they’ll say I’ll go up and talk to anyone – that I’m the classic extrovert.

There is definitely some truth in that. Once I’m in my comfort zone, I can, and will, chat to anybody, but initially approaching and speaking to a stranger doesn’t come so easily.

I’ll happily speak to the person next to me at the bus stop, the usher at the theatre, other clients at the hairdresser, on one condition – that I’m speaking about things I’m extremely confident about, strongly believe in, or if it’s just classic small talk.

Ask me though to pitch something important to someone verbally, whether it’s a novel or a business idea, I become crippled with verbal diarrhoea, or say nothing at all.

For me, it all comes down to having confidence in what I’m speaking about.

Believing in your writing or idea is one thing – something we’ll talk about another day – but until you can have that confidence, there’s an easy tool that will help you ‘fake it until you make it’, as they say.

Creating A Killer Pitch

I was a mess, the first time I pitched my novel to a publisher.

I’d gone to extreme effort to polish a few paragraphs with an awesome hook, and it sounded pretty darn good…on paper.

I realised too late that the pitch didn’t sound so great when read aloud. It sounded like I was reading from a script, and that’s exactly what I did. I read from the piece of paper because I was comfortable with what I’d written.

It was a brilliant lesson and reminder that I needed to work on my elevator pitch, specifically to be delivered verbally.

But where would I start?

The answer lay in all of the years of media training I had delivered to businesses and executives over the years.

 I didn’t need a ‘pitch’. I needed key messages.

The Power of Key Messages

The problem with writing a pitch and then memorising it word-for-word, is that when you go to say it, it is likely to sound like a script.

In real life we don’t speak the same way that sentences are put together on paper.

And when we do try to do that, we tend to sound unnatural or robotic.

We concentrate so much on delivering the exact words, that we lose all of the intonation and natural expression we normally use when we speak – all of the things that help to engage and keep other people interested.

The way to get around this, and take it a heck of a lot easier on yourself, is to develop key messages that you can use a guide – not a script.

Key messages are the takeaways you want your target audience to hear and remember – whether that audience is an agent, publisher, potential client, or a stranger at the shops.

Key messages – How To

  1. You want to develop three key messages based on the core themes or ideas you want to put across when pitching.
    • Why three? Three is an easy number to remember and will help keep you focused, and on point.
  2. To develop your key messages, ask yourself what are the three most important things you need to get across about the topic, novel or idea you are pitching.
  3. Write down these things and package them up into sentences.
  4. Each key message should consist of 1-2 sentences – the shorter the better – and should capture the things you think will appeal to the audience the most.
  5. Once you have written out your key messages, go through and highlight or underline keywords or phrases that represent the most critical themes or ideas you want to convey.

How To Use Your Key Messages to Pitch

The thing that stands key messages apart from a written pitch, is that they give you the freedom to adapt them as needed, at the time of use.

Key messages don’t need to be used word-for-word or remembered off-by-heart – you just want to focus on remembering the general gist of each message and the keywords or phrases you identified as most important.

Initially commit the key messages to memory, but then practise saying them out loud a few times and you will notice that you may start changing up your words, or tweaking them each time. Keep doing this until you have something that feels natural to say, and then remember it and practise it more.

But it doesn’t end there.

The beauty of key messages is that they can be tweaked depending on your audience, or even how you’re feeling on the day. They may also evolve over time.

You will most likely use slightly different language when speaking to someone at a BBQ than you would speaking to a senior executive.

Key messages enables you to ‘go off script’ without losing track of what you were trying to say and ensures you still convey the most important parts.

You’re also likely to sound more authentic, relaxed and engaging.

Trust me, I’ve done it myself and it really works.

Remember you’re not delivering a speech, your starting a conversation.

Bonus tip!

Once you nail your key messages, here’s your next challenge. Why not try and distil the three messages into one concise statement – you can call it your tagline or slogan if you like – that captures the core essence of what you’re trying to say.

And then, edit it until it is 140 characters or less – now you have an awesome little sound bite that’s made for Twitter!!

So what are you waiting for? Start working on your key messages and you’ll be pitching like a pro before you know it.

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Stop Waiting for the Muse to Arrive – Just Write

Kylie Fennell 1 comment

‘My writing has just stalled completely. I haven’t written anything for weeks.’

I was sitting with a lovely writer, on our lunch break from a writing workshop, listening to how she didn’t know what to write next, so she’d stopped writing.

She was devastated, because she was so attached to the story and its characters, but the ‘muse’ had left her.

I nodded my head knowingly. All of us writers have been there at one time or another.

I too have sat there, paralysed at my keyboard, waiting for that temperamental little minx of a muse to appear and shower me in magical creative fairy dust. And guess what? She never showed.

The Perfect Writing Conditions Don’t Exist

I had bad news for my new writer friend. If she persisted on her current path, the Muse wasn’t going to show up for her either.

You see, many of us writers like to think that we can only channel our creativity under the exact right conditions.

And given those conditions, the Muse will appear.

Those conditions may rely on being in the exact right mood and place. Having a beautifully designed workspace. It being the right time of day. Not being too tired. Having a big stint of time to sit down and write, completely undisturbed. And possible even having the astrological planets perfectly aligned. The thing is though, I’m yet to come across any writer whose life creates these perfect conditions for them on a consistent basis, or even at all.

I’ve used every excuse under the sun for why I couldn’t finish my book. In fact I used them for the best part of 10 years.

‘I write for a living, so I have no creativity or energy left each day.’  That was my favourite one.

Excuses are merely that. They are excuses. And you have to have call them out for the BS they are.

Life will inevitably get in the way of your writing. Deal with it, and recognise understand that it isn’t the reason why the Muse won’t appear.

The Muse Doesn’t Appear on Command

Even those of us, that accept that the perfect writing conditions don’t exist, have been guilty on occasion of tapping our fingers impatiently at our desk, waiting for a burst of creativity to appear.

Guess what though. The Muse doesn’t appear on command either.

Merely sitting at your keyboard, isn’t enough to signal to the Muse that you’re ready for her.

It’s a good start, because that’s where she’ll be looking for you, but it’s not enough.

Prove You’re Serious

The Muse needs to know you’re serious about your writing.

She’s not going to waste her time and magic on someone who isn’t prepared to do the hard yards.

How do you prove you’re serious?

You show up and you just write.

As simplistic as it sounds, you just have to sit at that keyboard, or notepad, and write your way through it.

The words may be rubbish, incoherent even, but you have to give the Muse something to work with.

Write whatever comes to you.

The great thing about writing is that the more you do it, the better you get at it.

The more you make yourself available to the Muse, the more responsive she is.

And the best part about writing is, that it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time.

Start with any words. You can change them later. Just get words onto a screen, or a page.

One word, after another, until you have a sentence. One sentence after another, until you have a page. You get the picture.

While I’d love to say that writing is all about being creative, the big ugly truth is that it’s not. More often than not, it’s about showing up day, after day, even when you don’t feel like it, and writing, writing, writing.

So stop waiting for the Muse, write for her.

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Forget 10,000 Hours of Practice – Embrace Shokunin To Be an Expert

Kylie Fennell 1 comment

Uncharacteristically, I had a hour or so to spare the other day, and I remembered that a new episode of Vikings should have been available SBS On Demand.

I was bitterly disappointed to find that the show hadn’t aired that week. Instead I poked around for something else to watch. My eyes fell on Jiro Dreams of Sushi. As a Japanophile the title was enough to draw me in, and I’m so glad it did, I just wish I’d seen it well before now.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a 2011 American documentary film following, the now 92-year-old, Jiro Ono – a sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro.

Sukiyabashi Jiro is a Michelin three-star restaurant that only seats 10 people, and can be found in the unglamorous location of a Tokyo subway station. You won’t find any appetisers or fancy a la carte meals there. Jiro Ono only serves a tasting menu of around 20 courses, for a minimum of 30,000 Japanese yen (350 AUD) – ouch!

Apparently though it’s completely worth it. Obama described his meal there as the best sushi he had ever had.

What’s that got to do with being an expert?

It turns out everything.

Embracing Shokunin

Jiro Ono subscribes to the practice of ‘shokunin’.

Shokunin is a Japanese term that translates as a ‘craftsman’ or ‘artisan’ – more specifically, the mastery of ones profession.

Famed Japanese artist, sculptor, teacher and woodcrafting expert Tasio Odate says “the Japanese apprentice is taught that shokunin means not only having technical skills, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness. … The shokunin has a social obligation to work his/her best for the general welfare of the people”.

This is a beautiful idea, but it seems that shokunin isn’t always driven by social obligation – even if there are beneficial outcomes for other people.

For many the shokunin is about the practice of doing something carefully and beautifully, to the best of your ability, and the personal joy derived from this. It is also about the continual quest for improvement and perfection.

In Jiro Dreams of Sushi we learn that the chef wakes up every morning and goes to work, despite already being incredibly successful and arguably the best sushi master in the world. He does this because he is driven by shokunin. He says, “All I want to do is make better sushi”.

The Cost of Perfection

As a self-confessed perfectionist I know the pressure I put on myself and how unhealthy it can be to me and those around me.

These days I prefer to aim for ‘progress’ rather then perfection – and sometimes ‘good enough’, is actually good enough.

Even Jiro Ono admits with perhaps a smidgen of a regret, that his quest for perfection meant he missed a lot with his family and could have been a better father.

So perfection isn’t all together perfect.

What I like though about the idea of shokunin is the drive to always improve and be better – to continually refine and master your craft – knowing that you may never reach perfection, and being okay with that, but also enjoying the journey and your craft.

Mastering Your Craft

I think shokunin is incredibly important whether you’re a writer, a software engineer, a cleaner, or a sushi master.

We should all take pride in what we do, want to be better at it and obtain joy from the process.

It can only lead to becoming an expert in your craft – and with that comes recognition, opportunities and self-satisfaction.

Debunking The 10,000 Hours Rule

Most of us have probably heard that we’re considered an expert in our field once we’ve practised our craft for 10,000 hours.

The concept comes from the work of psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, and was popularised by Author Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers.

Gladwell pointed to several case studies of incredibly successful people such as Bill Gates, whose success could be partly attributed to putting in 10,000 hours of work. That though is a simplistic interpretation of Gladwell’s book, which provides a lot of other compelling evidence for what makes people successful – it’s very much worth the read.

What though has come to light more recently is that the 10,000 hours may have little to do with whether you’re an expert.

Brad Stulberg, co-author of the book Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success, says expertise develops based on the way you practise, rather than the time you practise. That the quality and focus of your practise determines your performance. He recommends intensively focused practice or “deliberate practice”.

Start Becoming an Expert

Deliberate practice certainly isn’t at odds with shokunin, because they’re both about mastering your craft.

The premise of the 10,000 hour rule isn’t terrible either, as the more you practise something, the more likely you are to improve.

Perhaps in our quest for shokunin and being an expert, a realistic step is reminding ourselves that every day is an opportunity to be better than we were yesterday.

For me, I dedicate myself every day to improving my writing and marketing craft.

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Show. Don’t Tell.

Kylie Fennell

Every writer has heard at some stage the phrase “show don’t tell”.

At first I was a little puzzled by what exactly this meant.

As a former journalist I was used to writing straight news stories where you needed to ‘tell’ without your own embellishments or clues.

Over time though, I’ve found it a little easier.

Here are some great tips on how to ‘tell’ less.

Farts. Bottoms. Wee. Poo. Underpants. Books for Little Boys

Kylie Fennell

Image source: http://awwccordion.com/ (memory books)

Farts. Bottoms. Wee. Poo. Underpants. Just why are little boys obsessed with toilet humour? 

I typed this question into google hoping to find some research explaining this phenomenon and all I could find was forum after forum of mother’s asking the exact same questions and how do deal with it?

To be honest Master Five’s obsession isn’t something that I find I have to “deal with”. 

It’s an occasional annoyance more than anything, like when you’re trying to have a serious conversation with him and he answers you with his ‘fart gun’, or when you have to ask him to behave himself in public.

Other than that, I figure, or hope he’ll grow out of it – then I take a look at the grown men in my life and realise, no they never really do grow out of it. From what I can see farts are still completely hilarious in every form.

It seems it’s been a problem of generations if we look back at the classic nursery rhyme: 


“Snips (frogs) and snails, and puppy dogs tails, That’s what little boys are made of. Sugar and spice and all things nice, That’s what little girls are made of.“


Now if you look this one up on the web you will find parent after parent complaining that boys are portrayed in such a gross manner….but I’m sorry to say, while it doesn’t change how much we love them, little boys are gross…live with it, go with it.

So here I am going with it. A list of awesome books devoted to toilet humour (great Christmas stocking fillers).

1. The Day My Butt Went Psycho by Andy Griffiths (my son is obsessed with the TV version of this at the moment)

2. Why is Snot Green? by Glenn Murphy

3. Father Christmas Needs a Wee and Father Christmas Comes up Trumps by Nicholas Allan

4. Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray

5. The underpants books: Dinosaurs Love Underpants; Pirates Love Underpants; Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort.

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