http://jerobison.blogspot.com/2022/03/thoughts-on-writing.html Skip to main content Search Search This Blog [ ] [SUBMIT] Look Me In The Eye Official blog of NYT bestselling author, photographer, educator, neurodiversity advocate and automobile aficionado John Elder Robison. Pages * Appearances * Consulting * BOOKS * About John * TMS and Autism * KISS and music * Autism * Nosology for Dummies * Home More... Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps Labels * neurodiversity * writing March 21, 2022 Thoughts on Writing It has been 45 years since I first got the idea of writing things people would notice. The first things I wrote were descriptions of electronic circuits I had designed - how they worked and what they would do. I did not have the literary skills of an author, but I had technical competence and a decent command of language. Most of all, I had a gift for explaining things in ways others could understand. [AVvXsEjuzt3ypcjZB-UCUDHsCqRpkN74Z7a7E3LO4Glj] I did not realize it at the time, but those first missives were instrumental to success in my career in electronics. No one paid me for my writing, but it was my written words that brought me the work that sustained me. Even when my work spoke for itself I still had to write notes and proposals to get more. In the mid 1980s I had moved into "executive" jobs where I was a manager, not a technical person, and it seemed like much of what I did was write and attend meetings, where things I had written about were discussed. In hindsight, I see the ability to write clearly was very important. Writing kept me employed, even though my job title was engineering manager, not writer. When I quit electronics to fix cars, I set aside the Parker pen and the IBM Selectric typewriter. Now, I would be another kind of tradesman, picking up Snap-On wrenches instead. But the need to write was still there. I had to promote my fledgling business fixing cars. I had to establish my expertise. To do that, I began writing articles and submitting them to enthusiast magazines. I knew I could never buy a full page ad in a Land Rover magazine, but I was able to publish a full page article at no cost at all. The same was true for Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Mercedes and other car magazines. I sent stories to all of them and most were accepted. My business prospered and I saw links between my writings and people who brought work to the shop. "I read your article about . . . " was the start of countless interactions. Later on, when I looked on Internet writing forums, I saw how critical people were of that practice. Magazines who published the work of people like me without compensation were said to be taking advantage of us. I stopped giving people my articles for free. I began publishing them on my own websites, and licensing words and photos to groups who were willing to pay. At some point in that journey I learned I am autistic and decided to write about that, in order to help young people like me see they could grow up to have good lives. That was the first "altruistic" writing I did. Seventeen years ago, my father died, and I wrote a story about that. My brother put it on his website, from which it was picked up by NPR and hundreds of thousands of people saw it. I was shocked. At the same time, my younger brother had written a book about our childhood that had become a bestseller, and I found some of his readers suggesting I write my story. I did that, and when Look Me in the Eye came out, it and the writing that followed put me in front of millions. That book was the right story at the right time, and the success of the first book led me to write a second, a third, and a fourth. I wrote a dozen chapters for academic books and hundreds of articles. So many people read them that I became known not as an engineer, or a fixer of cars, but as an author. Despite that, I have always felt like a tradesman who uses words in furtherance of the trade. While I was writing on autism and neurodiversity I continued working on cars. Or rather, I continued running a business that worked on cars. While the car company still does a lot of service, I found a more creative outlet in the restoration side of the business which has grown from nothing to most of what I do in the past decade. Writing is absolutely essential to that. In the automotive sphere there are many large companies. An individual like me can never compete with them for ad space. The only way to build a reputation as a restorer was how I started in the 1980s - by writing stories about fixing cars and offering them to magazines. Sure, I read how magazines took advantage of "poor writers" like me, when they printed my stories. And I understand, the market may seem limited. If you were a publisher, how much would you pay for a 2,500 word article on rebuilding convertible tops on Bentley Azures? With fewer than 1,000 such cars in North America that is a pretty niche market, compared to writing about growing up with autism - something that affects one in thirty American families. Let me share a secret. The "free" articles I have written about those arcane topics have brought a ton of work into our shop. They established our company as top experts and were instrumental to the success we enjoy today. Don't think for a second I was taken advantage of by letting those magazines print my stories. If I look at the return, per word, for the specialized car articles versus my bestselling books, the return per word on car articles is much greater than anything else I have written. Now, plenty of people would argue that the social value of my writing on autism and neurodiversity has brought far more to the world. I agree, and I'm proud of that, but it does not change the fact there would never have been a Look Me in the Eye if I had not first built a business that gave me the freedom to take the time to write on autism. If you are someone who dreams of making money from writing, there is an important lesson here. It is incredibly hard to write a book, get an agent to read it, and get a publisher to buy and publish it. Once it comes out the odds of having a bestseller are tiny. Real financial success is so rare. Writing those "free" stories - as I have done for 45 years - and using them to advance in business, build a reputation, or gain work for yourself or your company - that is surprisingly easy to do. If you do it right, you don't need a bestseller to make a living from your words. It's just like when I got into engineering rock and roll music. Millions of kids dream of being a hit singer, and the competition is intense. Who dreams of being the sound engineer? I was able to walk in and go right to work keeping the shows running. So what if I didn't sing. Many people believe you get a job in academia by going to college, getting a doctorate, and then applying for work. In my case, my academic appointments at William & Mary and then at Landmark College were a direct result of the power of my written words. No doctorate was involved. That may seem unusual today but 100 years ago it was common. Words have a power that transcends more ephemeral things like a college degree. A degree cannot convey your powers of reason the way your words can. People ask what my next book will be. I expect I have more to say, but at this time I don't have a topic. I do have ideas. Whatever I end up doing, know this: Any book I write will be made possible by the money and security I have derived from writing seemingly pedestrian things all my life. If you want to be a writer, that is the path to success. Don't try to write a bestseller. Be a tradesman with your words, and write what is useful and build a life around it. Sometimes success in writing isn't what you think it is. Writing is what got me where I am, but not in most direct manner. John Elder Robison Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps Email Post Labels: neurodiversity writing Comments Post a Comment [INS::INS] Popular Posts Image November 13, 2013 I resign my roles at Autism Speaks Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 216 comments September 09, 2009 Life as an Aspergian female - a story I had to share Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 101 comments Image April 08, 2020 Possible Autistic Vulnerability to COVID-19 Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 8 comments Image November 08, 2011 What to do when you tangle your backhoe in the electric lines Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 10 comments Image September 29, 2011 A walk through the casino Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 2 comments September 11, 2009 The female Aspergergian guest blogger introduces herself Share * Get link * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Email * Other Apps 49 comments Powered by Blogger My photo Visit profile Archive * 2022 1 + March 1 o Thoughts on Writing * 2020 5 + December 1 + April 1 + March 2 + February 1 * 2019 2 + September 1 + February 1 * 2018 20 + November 1 + October 1 + August 2 + May 1 + April 3 + March 4 + February 5 + January 3 * 2017 17 + December 3 + November 1 + October 1 + August 3 + July 1 + June 1 + May 3 + February 3 + January 1 * 2016 10 + December 3 + November 1 + August 1 + July 1 + June 1 + March 1 + February 2 * 2015 17 + December 3 + November 2 + October 4 + September 1 + August 2 + July 1 + May 1 + April 1 + March 1 + February 1 * 2014 20 + December 3 + November 1 + October 1 + September 2 + August 2 + July 1 + May 5 + April 2 + March 1 + February 1 + January 1 * 2013 42 + December 2 + November 3 + October 3 + September 2 + August 7 + July 1 + June 4 + May 3 + April 4 + March 7 + February 1 + January 5 * 2012 40 + December 3 + November 2 + October 2 + September 2 + August 2 + July 6 + June 2 + May 6 + April 5 + March 3 + February 3 + January 4 * 2011 46 + December 6 + November 1 + October 3 + September 6 + August 4 + June 5 + May 6 + April 2 + March 5 + February 2 + January 6 * 2010 34 + December 3 + November 1 + October 1 + September 3 + August 3 + July 4 + June 1 + May 4 + April 2 + March 6 + February 3 + January 3 * 2009 82 + December 6 + November 5 + October 6 + September 8 + August 4 + July 10 + June 7 + May 10 + April 6 + March 5 + February 7 + January 8 * 2008 101 + December 4 + November 7 + October 15 + September 9 + August 7 + July 5 + June 8 + May 4 + April 7 + March 8 + February 12 + January 15 * 2007 148 + December 9 + November 13 + October 16 + September 16 + August 14 + July 19 + June 16 + May 20 + April 10 + March 8 + February 7 Show more Show less Labels * #actuallyautistic blog25 * adhd2 * advocacy1 * American Psychological Association2 * audio book5 * augusten burroughs2 * australia8 * autism7 * autism at work1 * autism blog25 * autism community35 * autism conference2 * autism research41 * autism speaks6 * autism vaccine1 * autistic1 * autistic behavior48 * autistic community38 * autistic culture32 * autistic murder4 * be different8 * bentley2 * Big E3 * blogging7 * book review15 * book tour68 * car events7 * college11 * colonial virginia1 * concert photography2 * coronavirus2 * cover-191 * Covid-191 * cubby5 * deep pressure vest1 * diagnosis2 * diversity1 * Donner Pass1 * education5 * employment1 * ernie and the automatics1 * ethics10 * fairs and carnivals6 * fatherhood1 * fire extinguisher1 * fire protection1 * fuji1 * government advocacy1 * Graffiti1 * guest post12 * harley springer softail motorcycle1 * Harvard Med School2 * IACC11 * ICF1 * ICF Core Set1 * IMFAR7 * imperial chinese war pug3 * indian motorcycle2 * INSAR7 * intellectual disability1 * intelligence5 * Jamestown3 * john sebastian1 * Land Rover2 * leica4 * lobbying1 * look me in the eye21 * mary robison2 * mass murder2 * media28 * monarch school4 * motorcycle4 * music13 * music photography2 * musicians2 * National Biography Award1 * NCYF3 * neurodiversity26 * nih3 * pandemic1 * parenting1 * Paul Rilla2 * performance photography1 * Petroglyph1 * philosophy2 * photography68 * public health1 * publishing33 * Raising Cubby10 * relationship1 * reliquary1 * reviews11 * robison service14 * school16 * social blindness4 * speaking engagements52 * spirituality3 * stories112 * suicide1 * Switched On2 * TCS Automotive Program7 * TMS17 * trade school7 * Tri County Schools5 * vaccine1 * vocational school8 * wandering1 * william & mary9 * writing9 Show more Show less Report Abuse Followers of Look Me in the Eye Get Facebook or RSS feed! 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