Authors Hating Authors (Boot and Ant)
I think one of the main things you have to realize when you’re an author is that you’re going to piss of a lot of people.
Often this will be done through what you do and say. But the more “successful” you get the more other authors will become envious and spiteful. That should be their “success” after all, and anything they can do to belittle your “accomplishments” will be done so that they can justify their own failures.
You see this in all walks of life. If someone decided to put the nose to the grindstone and do the work then there’ll always be a lot of lazier people looking on and lambasting them because they now look bad as a result.
I’m not sure if there are underlying psychological problems that bring these things about, but a case could be made.
What it really comes down to, however, is whether the boot feels the ant. Does that boot feel the ant when it steps on it, and is it hurt by this?
Another example is the rhino, and whether it feels the flies that always cling to it. Do the sharks notice the lamprey eels that follow it everywhere?
I think not, mainly because it probably never sees them. To the boot, the ant is so small and inconsequential that it really doesn’t even register. There’s no way the boot can even comprehend the existence of the ant, or what life it may lead. It’s totally off the radar and doesn’t even know it “angers” the ant.
But boots walk about and sometimes they step on things they can’t see. Sometimes the colony of ants mobilizes and tries to go after that boot, however silly it may seem to you and I. Maybe the ants even catch up with the boot and crawl up it and try to swarm it en masse.
But the boot just walks away, for it’s on its own road to its own destination and even if there were a million ants in the way or on the top it wouldn’t really matter.
Does the boot feel the ant? Not really, for the boot just can’t be stopped.
Often this will be done through what you do and say. But the more “successful” you get the more other authors will become envious and spiteful. That should be their “success” after all, and anything they can do to belittle your “accomplishments” will be done so that they can justify their own failures.
You see this in all walks of life. If someone decided to put the nose to the grindstone and do the work then there’ll always be a lot of lazier people looking on and lambasting them because they now look bad as a result.
I’m not sure if there are underlying psychological problems that bring these things about, but a case could be made.
What it really comes down to, however, is whether the boot feels the ant. Does that boot feel the ant when it steps on it, and is it hurt by this?
Another example is the rhino, and whether it feels the flies that always cling to it. Do the sharks notice the lamprey eels that follow it everywhere?
I think not, mainly because it probably never sees them. To the boot, the ant is so small and inconsequential that it really doesn’t even register. There’s no way the boot can even comprehend the existence of the ant, or what life it may lead. It’s totally off the radar and doesn’t even know it “angers” the ant.
But boots walk about and sometimes they step on things they can’t see. Sometimes the colony of ants mobilizes and tries to go after that boot, however silly it may seem to you and I. Maybe the ants even catch up with the boot and crawl up it and try to swarm it en masse.
But the boot just walks away, for it’s on its own road to its own destination and even if there were a million ants in the way or on the top it wouldn’t really matter.
Does the boot feel the ant? Not really, for the boot just can’t be stopped.
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OTOH, I think it's bad to look down on people who aren't as successful as someone else. All that does is add fuel to the fire. :/
Writing is hard work, no matter what. So assuming someone is lazy because they aren't successful - or are super-frustrated - isn't in the best spirit either.
(My comparison would be more bare feet vs. fire ants, since most of us authors don't have boot-like skins. Ours are all raw and bare, and susceptible to irritation at the slightest provocation. ;) And fire ants are just the WORST.)