Be the Champion of Your Own Change
By Jane Friedman | July 31, 2011 |
There’s only one thing for sure in this life: Things change.
I tend to be a champion of change. Whenever I hear people say, “Not all change is good,” I feel like challenging them. How do you know? Can you see all possible ends of change? Why not make an opportunity out of it?
Yes, I can be naively optimistic sometimes.
When it comes to personal change, though, I feel protective of what story gets told about it. As writers, we should be super-cognizant of the power of storytelling in our own lives. The stories we tell about our lives become our lives. (I love how Garrison Keillor describes this power in this commencement speech.)
Plus the stories we tell about ourselves send signals to others about how they should respond and treat us. (Remember this!)
So, my story is this: I decided to step away from my Writer’s Digest blog, There Are No Rules, and it’s an important, necessary, and hugely beneficial change for anyone who’s been following my advice.
I didn’t make this change without considerable deliberation and conversation with people I trust. I take my connection to Writer’s Digest seriously, even though I am no longer publisher. Writer’s Digest has been part of my professional identity for more than a decade now.
So it did feel a little scary to contemplate my existence out in the writing/publishing advice world without the Writer’s Digest name behind me. It’s the reason people started listening to me, so now I worry that people will stop listening.
But I believe my name has proven trustworthy on its own.
And most importantly, I now have better ownership and can put more investment into the content I develop. Before, it wasn’t possible to wholeheartedly pursue what uniquely defines my take on the writing, publishing, and media world because of old expectations and frameworks.
So I hope you’ll join me at my new blogging home, JaneFriedman.com. If you’ve been subscribing to No Rules, it’s time to reset your feeds/alerts.
Photo courtesy Flickr’s ~Brenda-Starr~
Jane Friedman has more than 20 years in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media and the future of authorship. She’s the co-founder and editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential industry newsletter for authors. You can find out more about her consulting services and online classes at her website, JaneFriedman.com.
Jane, Looking forward to your continued sharing of wisdom. Just added your new location to my Google reader list. Best wishes as you make this change.
(Did I mention that change makes me uncomfortable? Thanks for the encouraging words.)
Just loved this attitude of “championing change”! I shall also be pondering this gem a while “Plus the stories we tell about ourselves send signals to others about how they should respond and treat us. (Remember this!)”. Thank you, have noted your blog location CHANGE!
Fabulous. My six-year-old is having major growing pains right now . . . literal growing pains in her legs. Change and growth really ARE uncomfy. But, just think of how short (physically and professionally) we’d be if we never changed!
And, I followed you to your blog and found some excellent advice for a writing partner who’s struggling with his pitch.
Right on. Thanks, Jane.
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I’d already moved the RSS feed over. Congratulations on your changes, Jane! :)
I’m with you, kid. See you hanging out at your new corner.
“But I believe my name has proven trustworthy on its own.”
Precisely, my dear. Following the new feed now. :D
Good thoughts. Change brings the unknown, which can be scary but delightful, too. Best of luck, Jane. I’ll keep following you!
Jane, I will follow wherever you go! Good for you. I completely understand the need to have ownership and feel control over your own voice and content.
Go Jane!
Have enjoyed numerous posts that you have shared, have learned so much!
Thanks.
Best in the new direction!
Patricia
Hi Jane,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I understand how frightening it can be to step away from a known brand to go on your own. I have found it to be worthwhile in my case with launching my own site, TheAppPlanet.com. Having control over your own site and making decisions for yourself can be a very rewarding experience.
Best of luck!
Change is one of the hardest aspects of life and living, and I greatly respect those who face change head-on. Thank you, Jane, for not being daunted by the changes in our industry, and for leading the way toward the positive side of change. I’m glad you are publicizing your blog address change. Noted. Again, thanks!
Yes, yes, change is good! So often the most effective changes in my life have been the ones I didn’t anticipate. I’ve found that, too, much thinking generally freezes me in my tracks and I’m more likely to excel when it comes to seat-of-the-pants changes.
All the best in your new direction, Jane. I’m set to go with your new RSS feed. Bring it on :-)
Absolutely, I’ll change my feed, Jane. I’m just thrilled that you will continue to share your knowledge.
I read this article with great interest. I particularly like the idea of our life stories as the stories we tell ourselves. notice how the stories we tell ourselves change depending on how stressed/relaxed we are!
[…] I was a guest over at Writer Unboxed, speaking about the anxieties that surrounded my move from “Writer’s Digest […]
All the best with the change. Change is indeed scary. I’ve let go of three agents over the years and it was difficult each time. Going from traditional publishing, where I’d made my living for 20 years to go indie was also very difficult.
However, it seems you’ll have more autonomy and can build off your solid base.
Jane, you have always been Jane Friedman first with me before I said Writers Digest blog.
Thanks for all the wonderful blog posts over the last few years and I
look forward to continuing to read your wonderful blog posts under your own name!
xx
I’ll certainly follow you there, Jane! Your posts are gold. All of them.
I hear you. We needed to bring in extra money so I started a new practice (I’m a writer that is a therapist or a therapist that is a writer, depending on the day). This initially increased our overhead by a bajillion dollars. But, I wanted the autonomy to be choosy about what I take on and freedom to make my own schedule, limit the hours I work to allow for writing, etc. This has involved saying “No” to offers of security and guaranteed income, more than once.
Ironically, the Blog started as pre-marketing for a book is sending new referrals to the practice, after a brief but scary time where the phone didn’t ring. Hopefully it will work out. Being true to ourselves is such an adventure. I wish you the best in your new endeavor.
Congrats Jane. I’m in the pro-change camp, whether the change is initially driven from the outside, or from within. Go with it, grow with it, and I look forward to following you at your new URL!
Much gratitude for everyone’s kindness and support! :)
Consider me on board! I am so proud of you for making the change; while I do believe change is important, I struggle to adapt to it and find it very inspiring when others take the plunge in terms of new writing endeavours. :)