Listen to the lesson (5:09)
[audio:http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/authorcartel/Rule%202.4%20-%20Behind%20every%20artist%20II.mp3]
Still not convinced Cartels are important?
After looking at the stories of the six famous writers in the last lesson, we can draw four conclusions about the power of Cartels.
1. Relationships Matter
The underlying argument behind Story Cartel is that relationships matter, even in the arts. This doesn’t mean you have to be charismatic to succeed. Instead, it simply means you should do your best to be relational, to treat others (e.g. readers, publishers, agents, bloggers, journalists, and other writers) as you would like to be treated.
Have good character. Give generously of your time, attention, and resources. Be humble, especially with those who aren’t as far along as you. If you want people to pay attention to you, pay attention to others. If you want to be published, help someone else get published. If you want people to know you’re a good writer, talk about someone else’s writing.
John Updike was one of the most respected novelists of the 20th century, but he was also a huge supporter of other writers, reviewing dozens of books every year for The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books. His reviews often launched young writers, including Jonathan Safran Foer, into literary fame.
In the end, it’s as simple as this: If you want your writing to be treated with respect, treat other writers with respect. This will do more to help you create your Cartel than anything else.
2. The Lone Genius is Doomed
Without their Cartels, none of these writers would have become the giants of literature we know them to be. Their Cartels made them.
Hemingway would have been nothing without the influences of Dos Passos, Anderson, Stein, and Fitzgerald on his early career. Without Burroughs, Ginsberg, and most of all, Carr, Kerouac would be just an unknown alcoholic and not the author of what some hold as one of the greatest novels American novels written. Shakespeare would have been a middle class merchant without his band of Chamberlain’s Men.
You get the picture. If you think you can make it off your genius alone, your hopelessly mistaken. The good news is that if you’re not a genius, you have just as much chance at success.
3. Cartels Make Everyone Better
Cartels multiply effort. They inspire new ideas. They help you think outside of convention. They encourage you when you doubt your talents. They constructively criticize you when you’re working below your potential. They create opportunities for publication and help promote your work.
You can’t win the World Series without a team. You can’t make great art without a Cartel.
4. Location Matters (But Less Than It Used To)
A few years ago, a Harvard researcher named Isaac Kohane conducted an experiment asking, “Which team is more effective: One that has members in several different countries, creating a worldwide perspective? Or one where all the members live and work nearby? In other words, does proximity affect work quality?”
The answer surprised them. They found the most successful teams worked within ten meters of each other. The least successful teams lived more than one kilometer apart. Kohane says, “If you want people to work together effectively, these findings reinforce the need to create architectures that support frequent, physical, spontaneous interactions.”
In all of the examples of great writers we talked about, their Cartels either lived in proximity to each other or frequently visited each other. While the world is changing and digital tools are bringing us closer together, face-to-face interaction is still the best way to build relationship.
Can you create a Cartel with other writers and creatives where you live? Can you go to writer’s retreats and conferences to interact with writers who don’t live nearby? How can you use proximity to create your Cartel?
Of all of these, which do you think is the most important to you and your writing? Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Now you know why you should have a Cartel. But who should you be in a Cartel with? Find out in the next lesson.
I think the most important thing is local interaction. If you aren’t sharing your work and getting feedback, there’s almost no point in going to conferences, because you won’t be ready to present you ideas and interact with professionals in the industry. You need to workshop your work and get it in the best shape it can be in before you go to regional and national conferences and share your ideas. Networking at conferences is fine, but the end game for all writers is publication, and without having work ready to show, attending conferences is just about learning the ropes and making some contacts for the future. Starting at the beginning is starting locally… at critique groups where your work can improve.
A dilemma here Staci. What if you live somewhere nobody’s terribly interested in and you write about things that the writers around you don’t care about? Should I just write about the stuff that my local community is interested in?
I don’t think so. “Local” communities can be online communities. Look at what Joe has accomplished here. I just think that we need to work on our craft before we work on our network.
Absolutely. Your network is created by the stories you share. That’s why building a cartel is rule #2.
Audrey, I agree with Staci. I have to say, I go to a local critique group, but I find the critiques I have had online here to be far superior. I think that what makes the proximity work, is the fact that they don’t have to travel or put effort into meeting. That is what we have here on line.
I agree with you, Mirelba. I love the people in my local critique group, but have received better critiques from people I’ve met online. The short story critiques from this course have been fantastic. Besides, my group only meets once a month, and none live within 10 meters. That’s pretty difficult to find.
10 meters is pretty difficult, isn’t it. We need a writers commune or something. 🙂
don’t write about what you think they might be interested in, write what YOU are interested in, and the rest will follow. No one here in my community cared about history except pre-1848, now they care because I have been writing about it and talking about it, and yesterday I had a huge group of people come to hear me talk about the railroad station built in 1883. Ten years ago my community could have cared less if the thing was torn down, now they want to see it restored and saved.
As I read this I remembered how my dad shared with people all over the world, plus with a few local people in the college where he taught. He must have understood cartels of both kinds.
Where I live, it would also be hard to find someone interested, so I signed up for a writer’s conference at Chautauqua this summer, hoping to meet writers somewhat locally, or at least in person (not counting the desire to write better and get great instruction).
The rest will have to be online, Isn’t it wonderful that we live in a time that this is possible? I starting to experience the value of supporting writers that I know, and don’t know. The satisfaction of doing this, far outweighs the time spent.
I so appreciate this cartel – where we have all agreed to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Thank you!
Very interesting. What did your dad teach?
Congratulations on the conference, Becca. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. I just went to a conference last weekend. It’s just fun being around “your people,” people who get it, you know?
Hey Joe – my dad taught English (and was assistant dean of liberal arts at Penn State), but was known mostly for building a group of people who study and write about historical Utopias … which I didn’t know about until I grew up. I know exactly what you mean, and I can’t wait to go!
Wow. What an interesting man!
If a particular food causes an allergic eczema reaction, the process to find which food is the problem will take trial and error. Many people start with dry chapped hands and that may later progress to eczema with patchy red, scaly and inflamed skin. While people with true food allergies must avoid certain offending foods alghretoet; people with eczema should do the same thing.
Le Clown,It is largely because of the psychiatric discipline that my colony of Rage Fairies is currently at such a manageable size. That, and the speedy recognition of becoming hangry (hgyury/angrn, you see?)KathyPS: Thank you, I’m pleased with it.
For me it comes down to #1. Relationships Matter. Without that nothing else works.
Agreed.
I have a small local critique group but my most meaningful contacts and supporters are online. I have had the good fortune to meet several online contacts in person and when I did I felt like I knew them all along. There are real and wonderful people behind all those tweets and blog posts.
Same here, Kathy. The best writing relationships I have are the ones that exist mostly online but that I’ve cemented by meeting face to face.
The last comment was the best. Ever wonder why companies outsource jobs? Maybe they’d change their minds if those Harvard folk had a chat with them.
#1 is crucial because people need to remember that relationships take time and will only last if they’re not self-seeking.
Every job I’ve ever had is because of a relationship I built with someone in the industry.
Yep. Me too.
I think #3 is most important to me and my writing. I have lots of relationships, but I don’t think they would make the best cartel for me. The lone genius is doomed but that’s not me (since I’m not a genius, the lone part doesn’t even matter). I think that face-to-face interactions are really important, but everyone’s time is so haphazard nowadays, it makes getting together tougher than it used to. So I mostly rely on people I haven’t met in person for critiques and feedback.
We need to help you meet some of these people you’re getting critiques from.
The most important of these for me is proximity (location). I live in a rural isolated area and it’s hard to build community but not impossible. I already belong to a small writers group but they meet at times and places that are often hard for me. But until I find a stronger group, I need to try to network within this group as much as I possibly can. Other writers inspire me. And that is valuable.
You might consider going to a conference, Jay. It’s definitely helped me build my Cartel.
This was extremely interesting, because I lived in Australia the whole of last year and got to know many Australian writers. I went to a bunch of writer’s workshops and conferences.
Since I am back now, I have a Critique partner from Australia (and we met through our blogs). I am also in touch with a few other writers in the area of Minnesota and North Dakota… where I live. I definitely think it would be easier to have a cartel really close… but, I think I’ve always had more connection further away (problems of living in the middle of the country). I’ve also been going to writer’s conferences here in the States this year and have been loving it. I love meeting other writers. They just get you (how you think). 🙂
One thing I found useful though, go to Poets & Writers and there is a spot on there where you can look up other writers in your area. That is where I found a writer in my area.
I think that’s awesome, Devin. Lucky you to get to travel and build those connections. Joyce and Faulkner were inspirations to each other, even though they met only briefly and lived across the ocean from each other.
I’ve always been good at virtual connections – perhaps because my parents are missionaries, and my world has always been bigger than wherever I happen to be at the moment. So, though I love face-to-face encounters, I don’t really know any writers around my home. Especially, since I write in English and live in Mexico…
Wow! That is awesome about living in Mexico! And that your parents were missionaries… there are soooo many stories there for ya, I bet! What kind of things do you write? Do you have a web site?
Yes I agree, my closest friends and confidants, give my best support and connections, and without my clients I would not have written my first book. Thank you Joe this is great food for thought!
I’ll agree that all four factors listed are potentially important, but if I have to pick one then it will be the first – relationships – mainly because it is so broad. If you have a network of relationships then #3 (mutual improvement) should follow, but in addition you have the massive potential of mutual promotion. #4, proximity, is great when you can make use of it but in a global business you can’t depend on it. I am a member of a local group that I get something out of, but they can’t match the breadth of people I can reach on the internet (like here, for example!).
I think #1 Relationships is the most important to me. I don’t have any groups close by so I have to make relations with online groups. I love reading other authors books and stories and giving them praise and letting them know what I didn’t like. I hope when I write they will do the same. I have met a few from my blog and they have been very helpful in boosting my confidence to write. I would like someday to go to a conference but just not in the budget or time right now.
Relationships are important. I belong to a writers critique group and we help one another. We also have the added benefit of it being part of a larger group of writing groups and often have workshops and writing conferences.
However, the internet, blogging, and Facebook have been great for me. I’m able to connect with other writers from across the US and foreign countries. I have helped several by reviewing/guest posting/blogging about their books. Two have posted reviews of my short eBook, Dare to Dream, which in turn, generated new email subscribers.
I’m a bit late here, I had great difficulty with the previous exercise. However, I think for me the most important point is the second, “The Lone Genius is Doomed”. I tend to be a bit isolated socially, though not physically. I have trouble making and maintaining relationships but realise these are crucial in today’s world, not just for writers, but for anyone engaged in any individual endeavour. It will be a real challenge to build a cartel, though I have started by joining a local writers’ group. So far I have no specific relationships with the people in it but that may well change with time. I guess my closest other cartel is this, the StoryCartel.
In this day and age, with it so difficult to find like minds living nearby who have the time to meet, online options are vital to creating real, satisfying connections with other writers. It’s all about finding people who care about the same things you do and are willing to contribute time and thought to help you as you help them. I can’t afford a writer’s retreat, and while I am glad to meet monthly with a very supportive local writer’s group, I am also grateful for those who read, share and comment on my blog on a regular basis.
In a strange way, if another blogger picks me out of cyberspace to connect with, it’s very satisfying. They have no personal stake in me at first; they just like the writing.
I noticed at the end that you said, “But who should be in a Cartel with?” Is there a missing “you” there between “should” and “be”?
Proximity and face-to-face association became imperative to me in 1983, when I had my first article published in a small town newspaper (I worked there, but not as a reporter at the time). North of 54 in Canada then, there were no writers groups, or anyone who wanted to talk about writing. I sought a group 100 miles further north and travelled there once a month for meetings. Later, I joined a group who exchanged manuscripts by post mail, and met only twice a year. Those relationships grew and to this day are my major cartels (and I hope to build on this one!).
Now the Internet, as many of you have addressed, has become a welcoming, important, all-encompassing media/tool. Thus, emphasizing the importance of relationships. There is no mistaking that cartels/critiquing groups improve ones writing. But, there are drawbacks to the hours and days spent sitting at a computer. One has to be speedy, observant, selective, and sometimes merciless to be able to handle the multitude of tasks of keeping up to technology, and that does not even count time for family and living. Yes, we have to share, give critiques, reviews, help, encouragement, and I do every opportunity I can. Just hope I can keep up.
I don’t know any writers nearby, or at least not writers with similar aspirations. It would be really lovely, though.
Perhaps it’s time to go to a writing conference Sunny?
Perhaps! I’ve never really heard of anything local, but there MUST be and I just don’t know where to look.
As it’s NaNoWriMo time, maybe I can drop in on some local events or coordinate one of my own.
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Witam,chciałabym wykupić mieszkanie od spółdzielni, lecz spółdzielnia odmawia mi wykupu. Jestem tylko najemcą lokalu, chciałabym sie dowiedzieć czy jeżeli złoże wniosek do spółdzielni o wykup mieszkania, czy spódzilnia może się nie zgodzić na wykup, bardzo mi na tym zależy. Od 2009 r staram sie o wykup mieszkania, spółdzielnia zawsze odmawia. Dziękuje za odpowiedz
I wish more bands would do covers and I wish more movies were remakes of the same great stories. I think that's what a culture does; by contrast the focus on "creating" ever newer stuff leads to the production of mostly crap. Of course a modern pop culture is different from a traditional high arts tradition, but even so focusing on the same few stories or ideas may be good for the quality of the product at least if not the culture at large. It takes real talent to say something old in a new way.
Ylläolevalle: Ei Noora ole pylväspyhimykseksi julistautunut. Tää on just se, mikä mua ekoblogeissa eniten ärsyttää: jos joku on aktiivinen ja kiinnostunut asioista, niin heti etsitään siitä ihmisestä se yksi sanomisen aihe ja tullaan anonyymisti nillittämään. Aivan kuin kukaan voisi olla täydellisen nuhteeton joka suhteessa.Hankkisit sinäkin, hyvä kommentoija, itsellesi parempaa tekemistä.
I know the feeling. I looked up groups on the internet some time ago for Missouri. Closest thing was 3 hours away and half of them in the state were romance critique groups. Beh!
I might have looked at the Arkansas ones last time, but I don’t know if I took them seriously. They might be an hour or less away. I’ll have to look into them.
I did a search last night and found an active (kind of) community about four hours from here. The local university has an annual conference that I just missed. Le sigh.
I’ve been trying to connect (virtually mostly) with other novelists who write in the thriller, suspense, supernatural genre(s). However, I certainly haven’t yet established an “Inklings” or “Bloomsbury-style” group. That would be a blast.
I also am a member of a number of writers blogs which I contribute to on a regular basis with posts & comments from other writers, but I now need to ramp this up by interviewing them on my blog and such like. The challenge is most of them write in a different genre that my readers wouldn’t necessarily be interested in. Joe, you got any thoughts on how best to manage such “conflicts”?
Good question, Ian. I think it would be fine to do occasionally. As a reader, I’m not that big a fan of interviews, but to build your Cartel (and your Cartel is part of your platform), they’re awesome. Why not do one a month? That way you don’t annoy your audience and you get the advantage of building your Cartel.
It would be nice to build a cartel with local writers. However, there’s no guarantee that, by meeting people locally, you will find people on the same wavelength as yourself. It’s more unusual to make a stronger connection. Whenever I connect with writers, I’m happy to keep in touch, even if it means having a long-distance friendship.
Good point, Katie. I’ve met local writers and been underwhelmed by our connection, but when I meet writers I already have a connection with in person, that’s when it really cements the relationship.
Sorry, Katie, but I’m not ready for this relationship to be anything but long-distance, even if you do look like Kyra Sedgewick in your thumbnail.
I don’t know if I want to be in a local critique group. Katie and Sunny and Mr. Swan and Benjamin can’t be in it.
Plus, I’ve always been socially-awkward anyway, and I’ve always been cool on the internet.
But… still, I might have to… Sigh… give it a try…
How about this, Katie: I’ll join a group and you join a group and we will tell each other how it went?
That’s what I thought you said! (About not being in a critique group without us). Hahaha!
LOL! Good luck!
Love this.
OK, Katie. I sent an email to a local critique group. Hopefully, they accept unpublished writers of fantasy like me, because it really didn’t say much.
Good for you. Trouble is, I’m really not inspired by what’s on offer locally. They’re either too far away, or meet when I’m at work. I’m going to have to do some more research into how to contact writers. Maybe even see if I can start my own writers’ group!
The group I’m looking at has 6 or so members, one male, and they are all over 65. Hmm. Sounds like my kind of group!
That’s bizarre. Your description sums up 90% of the writers’ groups in the UK, and certainly all the ones in my area.
I did find one locally that I thought sounded interesting, because they mentioned on their website that they publish anthologies. However, when I emailed them today, they said they don’t publish any more, and the writers either fell out, or succumbed to long-term sickness. 🙁 I’m afraid, the traditional writers’ group seems to be a dying breed.
Well, they replied. The leader of the group is published author. Will see how it goes on Thursday, if I can.
Otherwise, we could always get on a big skype call. 🙂
That’s what one group of alumni did. They created a “mini-cartel” with members from LA to Jerusalem to Australia to Singapore.
James, tell me how it goes. The group I contacted also meet on a Thursday – when I’m working! I haven’t given up hope yet, though, and I’m exploring other possibilities.
A big Skype call sounds interesting. I’m not set up for Skype at the mo, but my husband assures me it’s easy to sort out. Keep me posted. 🙂
Skype is as simple as shucking corn. As long as you have a microphone, you could have the whole thing set up in less than 10 minutes.
Once again the “do unto others” concept rings true. For me, as with the writing itself, being disciplined with my time in manner that encouraged care and attention to my writing cartel is the great challenge. We all have the same hours in a day; how we manage those hours becomes critical for the successes we (I) seek.
Hmmmm. Has anyone had success with MeetUps as a tool to meet writers in your own neighborhood? Just curious. Also wondered if there’s a list of writers workshops or conferences (national, regional or local) that could be reviewed for opportunities. Maybe I’ll do some Googling tonight and see what I find.
Happy Friday evening all.
I googled around my area, but Missouri has crap. Fortunately, I live on the border of Arkansas and Missouri. Arkansas looks to have some decent stuff for me.
Good luck, Jim. If you decide to give it a try, let me know how it goes!
Will do James! Fingers are crossed.
I’ve been to meetups. It was okay, felt awkward the first time but that’s normal. It was an hour away though. :/
I never give my time generously to others. I make a note to never read other people’s stuff. I truly believe everything out there is garbage that is not worth reading no matter how good others claim it to be. I’m selfish and believe I’m better than everyone else. Just ask anyone on here, and they’ll tell you.
I also have a sense of humor and a capacity for sarcasm. Which do you think is most important to me?
I’m a member of a local critique group through SCBWI. While I like the people in the group, none of them are as serious about writing as I am (and I am by far the youngest by at least seven years…). I really just go to be able to talk to other writers twice a month. So location isn’t always that great, because it doesn’t offer you your best fit critique partners wise.
I really believe in the third point: that cartels make everyone better. Sharing my work has always made me a better writer. And reading other people’s work has equally helped me.
To me, relationships are the most important of the four listed. Since I operate a publishing house with staff all over the world, I see location as much less of a barrier.
In my case, the hardest part has been finding people with whom to build such a thing – hence, on to your next lesson! 🙂
They are all important to me. I believe relationships mean support giving and receiving. I have met some pretty awesome writers since taking this course. I try to read every comment and react to it. I really need to begin working harder on my cartel though. As far as locally, I have not had much luck in making contact with any writers in the area. The result being that my classes to teach children how to write their own book, illustrate, and publish it was a complete flop for the initial meeting.
The main reason was timing. The Saturday before Father’s Day is not a good time to create a class of any kind. I am a little disappointed but will just try harder the next time.
I think the most important to me is the fact that Cartels make everyone better. I like the concept that we are not to do this alone. But can I tell you that I say that with a little fear. It seems my experience has been that we can encourage others, but when we need encouragement, it might not be there for us. And that’s a little scary. Maybe I’m wrong. But I find a lot of people line up to get books read and reviewed and they are not as fast in lining up to be the readers or reviewers.
I have to say I got all excited because I read James was in Missouri, as I am. Woohoo! Then, I read he is on the border between AK and MO, so boohoo.
I would say that local is the most important as those create lasting relationships and there is more energy produced as a group; additional layers of interacting. For instance, words, tone of voice, these can all be created on a group call, but body language…the smell of onion on their breath from lunch…you just can’t share those things over Skype or Google hangouts.
That said, I am now disabled. I can sit up for a certain amount of time but then have to lie flat (spinal fusion gone wrong/r.a./lupus. 3xthe fun!). Or my hand has decided not to work for about a month, or they are both so swollen, it looks like blown up surgical gloves. It’s all very funny (I have to laugh at it, seriously ;). So, while I feel like going to writer retreats would be the best way to get to know people and collaborate with them, I’m afraid I’ve done all of the traveling the first part of my life (which was a lot and I’m grateful). I am hoping that there are groups that can meet over the internet in face-to-face inter…erm…screen-to-screen interactions. And they don’t need to be in St. Louis, either. So…the world is my oyster! (With or without the garlic 😉 Off to do some research.
I’ve signed up with Skywriters which sounds like a great group! Originating in the best of Cartels. ;p
26/40… la classe! (même si y’a des conditions énvdeites, genre “être une fille”), mais ça marche pas trop parce que je ne peux pas dire que je suis amoureuse de toi.
This is a great post! Thanks for sharing. I love lifting weights. I find it to be fun. My favorite thing is do a full body toning type class where each of your muscle groups get the right amount of focus. I have found this works best for me, mixed with a day or two of my own weight lifting routines.
i don't want a spanish site.. i'm sick and tired of spanish crap.. if youtube goes youtube.es i'll just quit.. seeing 'mi carro' on the front page next to the red and yellow piece of shit the other day made me puke..i don't know why google are always putting local crap to their sites
I belong to both local as well as online writing groups. I find both beneficial, but in my local group the writers tend to be very old or very young and I have a little more difficult time connecting with either group. I mean I can’t go out and have a beer with the younger writers ( I have on occasion gone with them for a coffee) and the older members ( and I mean no offense here) tend to stick together a bit more. It’s really a question of connection and I find that I tend to have stronger connections with access to the vast online community in a much stronger degree.
Again I find value belonging to both. I would not dump my regional writers group for my online groups or vice versa. The reading world is vast and getting a vast perspective is beneficial
I love working face to face with other writers. For some reason, working with someone in person, for me, feels powerful and effective. I haven’t tried an online group yet. To be continued…
10 meters is quite a short distance. I wander if “face-to-face” in real life equates to a Google Hangout or Skype call. I wish Cohen would test that! That is the only way that I will be able to travel to anything anymore.
As far as who should be in my cartel, I would love any of the people I have interacted with in Story Cartel Course. I have several people that I have collaborated with in another capacity and it was fabulous. We worked independently on items that we had volunteered for and worked smoothly while corresponding over emails and on Hangouts.
What Joe has built in this course creates a very special writer, one that excepts growth and improvements/critiques at every turn and happily gives constructive feedback to anyone else they interact with. So my choice, if I must limit it, would be for anyone that has gone through SCC. Let’s pretend that an internet chat is less than 10 meters! 😉
I think #1 – Relationships Matter is the most important in my opinion, but I think it is the relationships, regardless of where you form them that matter and help build your cartel. I love people and I do my best to try to help others by promoting them regardless of whether it comes back or not. I have found that most of the time, we all are helping each other.
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