You will not be successful as an author because you are not famous.

Claire Kenny

Features Author

@my40pluslife

00:00, August 24, 2024

lifestyle

Last week, our 40+ columnist Claire Kenny wrote about the value of “normal.” But does anyone want to read about real life? Especially when the author isn’t even famous.

Image by Peter Olexa on Pixabay

If you're trying to make it on Instagram, you know all too well the feeling that no one is listening. In fact, it's easy to wonder if you should bother if you don't have the means (or in my case, the body) to commission bikini shoots under waterfalls, travel on private jets, and fill your mansion with gigantic floral arrangements.

The answer is of course a clear yes. After all, as an author you simply have to write. Whether it's a diary, a client's website or Insta posts – without this creative outlet, life just feels wrong. We write to process things, share our truth and try to make our little corner of the world a little better.

The fact that people actually read it is just a bonus.

When I told my daughter I'd fallen into a bit of a blogging slump, she suggested I write my way out of it. That's when I realized I couldn't remember the last time I'd written anything meaningful that wasn't for my clients!

It was a timely reminder that my love for the craft should come above all else.

Claire Kenny

When I thought I had almost made it

If you think Instagram is difficult, consider its even more difficult cousin, print media.

Believe me, this nut is even harder to crack.

After publishing an article in Britain's best-selling women's magazine a few years ago, I had the distinct impression that I was well on my way to finally “making it” as a freelance writer. I was very quickly brought back down to earth when an editor told me that my proposal for a second article would probably not be accepted because I was “neither famous nor married to anyone famous”. Although, to be fair, this certainly underlined the need for the ghostwriting business I later set up.

Then came the article I wrote for free for one of the big glossy lifestyle magazines. When my second pitch was accepted and I felt more established, I negotiated a small fee and was then ignored immediately after publication. This was a very successful magazine with several famous columnists – I wonder if they were ignored when they asked for their fee?

So I went back to the beginning. Or more precisely, to a square in my Instagram grid. Because writing is writing, no matter where you do it.

Social media is not all bad

In fairness to social media, it has given a platform and a voice to writers who would never have been seen or heard before. You may have few followers and feel like no one is listening to you, but think of your Insta or Facebook account as a tiny, tiny garden; you still feel better about it if you nurture it and make it a reflection of yourself. And you never know who is looking over the fence.

I think the point of this article is to emphasize that whether you consider yourself a “real” writer or not, if it makes you feel good and gives your life meaning and fulfillment, you should keep writing. Never forget that something you write could change someone else's mind.

The ability and courage to share what is on your mind and what you think is one of the few things that is still completely free and a privilege that is not available to everyone.

And that's worth zillions of likes and follows.

Claire can be found on Instagram at @my40pluslife.me.