Writing distractions, reasonable and otherwise
As a follow-up to DOJ Antitrust Suit is Discouraging post, I noticed an interesting post on Charlie Stross' blog called What Amazon's ebook strategy means. While I don't like the distractions of publishing uproar, I do view it with some concern as an author.
Likewise, I'm disappointed about the lack of a Pulitzer Prize award for fiction. I've already posted some comments about it on Malcolm's Round Table. Bottom line: the Pulitzer Board should be able to do better than end up with a hung jury, especially after 2011 was viewed by many as a good year for fiction.
I began this blog when the first edition of The Sun Singer was published in 2004. By the time the second edition of the novel came out in 2010, the blog had already become more of a general author's blog than an on-going discussion of the hero's journey. My Sarabande's Journey blog, however, focused entirely on the heroine's journey and other issues in my 2011 contemporary fantasy Sarabande.
On April 4th, I uploaded a final post to Sarabande's Journey. I felt that as an author, it was reasonable to discuss my view of the challenges of a heroine's journey while the book was being written and was first out on the market. But keeping the blog going would have required a lot of extra work because the subject matter is outside my expertise. Needless to say, I am not a mythologist, a Jungian analyst or a specialist in women's studies.
Many years ago, I investigated becoming a Jungian analyst. However, my my graduate work as in journalism rather than psychology, meaning that I would have had a lot of catching up to do in terms of course work. Also, there was the matter of being able to afford it. My long term interest in the subject explains, perhaps, why I like the hero's journey and heroine's journey, alchemical symbolism and other Jungian and mythic subjects. My strengths though are as an author. So, I need to maintain that focus and not get pulled off into the themes of my work.
If I'm not careful, those themes could turn into distractions just as surely as rationalizing a "need" to keep up with the publishing industry.
Malcolm
Likewise, I'm disappointed about the lack of a Pulitzer Prize award for fiction. I've already posted some comments about it on Malcolm's Round Table. Bottom line: the Pulitzer Board should be able to do better than end up with a hung jury, especially after 2011 was viewed by many as a good year for fiction.
I began this blog when the first edition of The Sun Singer was published in 2004. By the time the second edition of the novel came out in 2010, the blog had already become more of a general author's blog than an on-going discussion of the hero's journey. My Sarabande's Journey blog, however, focused entirely on the heroine's journey and other issues in my 2011 contemporary fantasy Sarabande.
On April 4th, I uploaded a final post to Sarabande's Journey. I felt that as an author, it was reasonable to discuss my view of the challenges of a heroine's journey while the book was being written and was first out on the market. But keeping the blog going would have required a lot of extra work because the subject matter is outside my expertise. Needless to say, I am not a mythologist, a Jungian analyst or a specialist in women's studies.
Many years ago, I investigated becoming a Jungian analyst. However, my my graduate work as in journalism rather than psychology, meaning that I would have had a lot of catching up to do in terms of course work. Also, there was the matter of being able to afford it. My long term interest in the subject explains, perhaps, why I like the hero's journey and heroine's journey, alchemical symbolism and other Jungian and mythic subjects. My strengths though are as an author. So, I need to maintain that focus and not get pulled off into the themes of my work.
If I'm not careful, those themes could turn into distractions just as surely as rationalizing a "need" to keep up with the publishing industry.
Malcolm
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