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A question for fellow writers
There is hard work involved in most any profession you chose, especially plumbing, but most people don't want to hear how hard it is, they just want to see the finished product. If someone says they've always wanted to write a book, they probably know little about the business but would like to be able to call themselves a Writer. It's not really a serious issue, and you probably shouldn't treat it as one unless you detect a real desire for it on their part. My response would be, "Give it a try. It's a lot of work, but at worst you'll just waste some time and effort, and maybe a little money, to find out whether you can or can't do it." That will probably end the conversation about writing. If not, then you can treat more seriously.
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I usually go with something like, "why don't you?" or "what would it be about?" or "I think you should!"
The other day my boss said he has always wanted to write a book and I said, briefly and with enthusiasm, "do it!" I found that the reason he hasn't is he doesn't believe his books would be good enough. I encouraged him to learn the craft and give it a shot.
Then, there's the old story about the patient being prepped for surgery.
Patient: "After the operation, will I be able to play the piano?"Wishful thinking and determined action are two entirely different things.
Doctor: "Oh, certainly. That shouldn't be a problem."
Patient: "Wonderful! I've always wished I could play the piano!"
Philip wrote: "I went to the post office the other day to post off books to my giveaway winners. The lady serving me asked if these were my books as a bit of a joke. I just replied yes. (I think it's important fo..."Sometimes, when I'm feeling a bit impish, I will smile and nod and listen, then encourage them to go write that book. I know what they are in for and know that if they actually try, that they will no longer trivialize what I do.
The real fun happens the next time I see them (if I remember them). If I am still/again feeling impish (and I usually am), I'll ask them if they have finished. >;->
Oh, come on now! Am I the only one who has done that?
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I'll let you know in ten years, after I manage to show you for your zinger! j/k j/k
Truth to tell, I haven't had anyone give me anything near this kind of a response. Most people are excited to talk to me after I tell them I've written a book.
Riley wrote: "K.C. wrote: "I'll let you know in ten years, after I manage to show you for your zinger! j/k j/kTruth to tell, I haven't had anyone give me ..."
That's good, Riley! But should the need arise, just channel your inner imp.
Daniella wrote: "It's not so much having to work. It's a question of trying to squeeze in the time to write. I can only write in the evenings and on the weekend. Some days I can only write a paragraph and that's fr..."I feel for people who work at a day job and/or have children at home and still try to find time to write. I'm retired with no children at home and I still get frustrated because so many things take attention away from writing. Especially trying to learn the ropes of marketing and promoting my first novel recently released.
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How about those of us that have day and night, night and day jobs? It's a struggle sometimes, but I will always find time to write. When your passion for something is high enough, you will not let something trivial like a job get in the way. *grin*
Dwayne wrote: "Philip wrote: "she then threw out the "I've always wanted to write a book"... I just smiled because I couldn't think of a reasonable response to this small talk... (any suggestions in case this com..."They'll definitely never be good enough if he never writes them.
Susan wrote: "several years ago when I was working on my first book, my teen-age daughter read my first draft and told me she was surprised I had an imagination! I laughed out loud - guess I was just a mom in he..."I left a manuscript I wrote I was just 17 sitting on the coffee table last week. My 12 yo daughter snuck a peak and told me she was surprised I was such a good writer. I laughed because I had told my husband just the night before that it was a melodramatic mess.
Dwayne wrote: "Leta wrote: "I feel for people who work at a day job..."How about those of us that have day and night, night and day jobs? It's a struggle sometimes, but I will always find time to write. When yo..."
True. I admire you for finding the time. My situation is so much easier and I still struggle. Seems like there is a little distraction demon lurking about bringing unexpected house guests, reminding me of dentists appointments, making my dog sick so I have to make a trip to the vet..... got to find that little demon and poison him.... lol
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Keep a messy, smelly house and the house guests will stop showing up. Pull all your teeth so you don't need a dentist. Sell the dog. Now, you have time to write.
Kidding.
But, maybe this will work - when you're milling with the unexpected house guests, sitting and waiting for the vet or while that dentist is digging around in your mouth, think about your stories, your writing, your characters, tough patches in your latest project... keep your mind on writing as much as possible. Maybe it will help you get back to the writing with rabid passion when the dog is done with the vet, the dentist is done torturing you and the house guests have vacated.
I answer the door naked with a tub of lard under my arm. Problem solved.
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But I'm a writer, not an author. :(Edit: I just looked it up. I guess I am an author after all. :\
Don't worry Riley. You have the only addiction that counts here. :-)
I gave up weed years ago because it led me back to the harder stuff--cigarettes (I needed the nicotine). Now I'm content with my rum & cola.
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Of course you're an author. Why the sad face?
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That reminds me of a topic idea I had a couple days ago but was too busy to come and post it. Off to do that now...
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Druggies and alcoholics are literary authors. I'm a genre fiction pulp-slinger, so my coffee addiction fits perfectly.
Dwayne wrote: "Leta wrote: "Seems like there is a little distraction demon lurking about bringing unexpected house guests, reminding me of dentists appointments, making my dog sick so I have to make a trip to the..."Thanks - that's what saves me! I seldom have writer's block because I spemd so much time wrtiting in my head I pretty much have it worked out by the time I sit down at the computer.
Dwayne wrote: "Ann wrote: "It was so much easier when we were just druggies and alcoholics!"That reminds me of a topic idea I had a couple days ago but was too busy to come and post it. Off to do that now..."
I dunno, I always pictured authors as wannabe rock stars, and the writers are the ones with their shirts rolled up to their elbows with greasy hands.
How do you write with greasy hands?
I'd be happy to explain metaphors sometime. :D
Charles wrote: "I'd be happy to explain metaphors sometime. :D"No, dang it! Let me live in my literal world where writers all work for Happy Clown Burger.
Speaking of which... Brb...
Yeah I'm the poor girl that has to clean the bathrooms.
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Ha ha ha! Then I'm an author. When I'm writing at home I'm sitting with my greasy hair and my drug of choice (caffeine) in my bathrobe listening to rock music LOUD!!!* The Who, The Stones, The Doors and, of course, a little ditty about Jack and Diane.
*At least for this project. For "Tink" it was Sinatra, for "Summerwind" it was Mozart - 'course they were kind of rock stars in their own way, too.
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Then, in my opinion, you have nothing to worry about. Writing in your head is part of writing, too. That's generally where I find my hooks, the things that will start the story.
Charles wrote: I dunno, I always pictured authors as wannabe rock stars, and the writers are the ones with their shirts rolled up to their elbows with greasy hands. I'm reminded of something Harlan Ellison wrote about the difference between an author and a writer...
"He once told me the difference, as he saw it, between an author and a writer. 'An author (he said) is what they put on your passport, because in Europe they think a writer is a newspaperman. An author is somebody who gets his name on the spine of leather-bound volumes that are never read; a writer is someone who gets hemorrhoids from sitting on his ass all his life…writing.'" (from All The Lies That Are My Life)
Dwayne wrote: "Charles wrote: "I dunno, I always pictured authors as wannabe rock stars, and the writers are the ones with their shirts rolled up to their elbows with greasy hands."Ha ha ha! Then I'm an author...."
You left out the unearned ego trip. ;)
Wannabe rock stars have them, you don't. :p
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So, is my ego trip well earned or marginally earned?
Dwayne wrote: "Charles wrote: "You left out the unearned ego trip. ;)"So, is my ego trip well earned or marginally earned?"
You're so full of yourself. :p
Michael wrote: "Charles wrote: I dunno, I always pictured authors as wannabe rock stars, and the writers are the ones with their shirts rolled up to their elbows with greasy hands. I'm reminded of something Harl..."
Yes, something like that. I found out after I posted that, technically an author is someone that has created a world, and all the characters therein.
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If I were full of anyone else, it would be weird. And gross.
Charles wrote: "Michael wrote: "Charles wrote: I dunno, I always pictured authors as wannabe rock stars, and the writers are the ones with their shirts rolled up to their elbows with greasy hands. I'm reminded o..."
Or as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Writers aren't exactly people...they're a whole bunch of people trying to be one person."
Dwayne wrote: "Charles wrote: "You're so full of yourself. :p"If I were full of anyone else, it would be weird. And gross."
I like to think we all have a figurative dead twin inside of us.
Riley wrote: "wait... you mean not all authors are alcoholics or druggies anymore? I don't have to give up my weed, do I?"no! don't give it up Riley! I find a couple bourbon & waters helps to get my thought process moving :)
Susan wrote: bourbon & watersA dying art. :(
Any existing self-publishing stigma will soon be gone. Its called the evolution of the printed word and it has drastically changed. The publishing industry is antiquated, slow to change and overcome with a pompous attitude. As a former consultant to private equity firms and hedge funds my evaluation of companies in the publishing industry has been uniformly negative. If you're self-publishing you're ahead of the curve.
The publishing companies are reacting to self-publishing the same way magazines and newspapers did with the internet.And the same outcome is likely if they continue. Television as well.
so no need to stop drinking my bourbon nor stop writing, just because I can't get an agent or publisher????? Sure hope you're right!
How people receive all types of content is rapidly changing. In ten years people will ask what happened to publishers, newspapers and cable companies. We will be able to access what we want, when we want it in digital format with a few swipes of a finger.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Places Of Time (other topics)Ship of Storms (other topics)
To Summon The Blackbird (other topics)
Philip, I think it's true that most people do not realize the hard work involved in first developing the idea for your book and then actually sitting down to write, revise and write again. It's takes an inner determination that I don't think many people have.