From my perspective, a lax senior, whose no one to nobody. This is a lengthy dialog, seems to spend too many words of 'this and that'. Doing something always has its own rewards. Subject one. Doing something well, an opinion. Subject two. Conclusion not clear. Subject three.
I don't expect to make money, don't need to make money, and that seems to be the object of too many writers. Early in the last century I sent Amazon some novellas, I sold some. Most in England and Australia. As a U.S. citizen I was baffled. I gave up sending anything I wrote to anyone, but I did pay two editors to edit two 130K books. I got back revisions to grammar, nothing constructive to structure.
That's all interesting - and how annoying about the editors. "Edit" covers so many different possibilities, doesn't it - and it can be hard to be sure you'll get the kind of editing you want. It seems to me that knowing what you want - money, readers, connection - is the key to deciding how to tackle all these things.
Winter Solstice is not a good time for this discussion, for me at any rate. I have every reason to push forward with all my writing projects but currently am thinking 'why bother?' I do not want sympathy or to be told to 'get over yourself, others are really suffering out there. Why do I want an agent who believes my novel will sell, and the editor who shares his/her enthusiasm? Because I am one of many, because we all have a right to be published or do we? I suppose I want validation and that, as the cheesy ad, says, "I'm worth it.' Aren't we all?
Oh, Sally, I don't think "get over your self" is almost ever a helpful thing for anyone to say! Validation is key, isn't it - and of course it takes different forms for different people. I hope that you find a route to it soon.
I was discouraged by a review. However I continued writing because I enjoy writing. The chance of my being published again aren't high. They'd be less if I didn't write, and even less likely if I didn't try to improve. I learn so much by writing. I meet some lovely people and read great books. Happy writing.
Thanks for this post, Emma. I really do love these ideas. You are almost suggesting a kind of life orchestration. Appreciating and planning for the interdependencies between the threads of our lives sounds really valuable.
If we allow ourselves to reflect on our lives as a whole, professionally, domestically, privately, maybe we can even experience at times a certain JOMO — the joy of missing out on some outcomes in favour of others.
Awesome post. I may need to lie down for a while and ponder! Have a wonderful holiday break!
So glad you like the post, Julian! I think "interdependencies" is probably the word I spent that whole post looking for. And yes, I think it can be possible to feel "Well, I didn't do X because I was doing Y - and that's Just Great!" As when some big arrangement cancels at the last minute, and you find useful and fruitful things to do with the sudden gap in life, that you'd never have done otherwise. Have a good break too!
Excellent post before the Christmas rest - I feel it is very important to be clear on what feels right for one's own path and to not get drawn into the trap of thinking that somebody else's formula or ten-easy-tips-to-overnight-success type processes will allow one to short cut the hard work. My grandmother always used to say "what is intended for you will not pass you by" as a reminder to relax and trust in oneself. As I now say to my kids, as long as you're a) turning up, b) being fully present whilst there, c) speaking your truth and d) letting go of there having to be specific outcomes then you're doing as much as any human working in earth time is really capable of.
The MS that I put through your JW Self-Edit Course with the wonderful Debi Alper has garnered 63 rejections to date... It's disappointing, but I'm not disappointed. There are more agents turning on their submissions pipeline in the new year - one of them might like it. If they do or if they don't, that MS has taught me a huge amount and helped me build my resilience. Odds are it won't be read by many more people in the world, it'll stay "under my bed"... But it was still worth me turning up to etc etc.
I feel the same way about my current WIP - just gotta honour this new story in similar way to honouring that last one...
:) Thanks again, Emma for all your advice and encouragement. Merry Christmas.
P.S. Have you heard of Dan Blank and his We Grow Media - he has lots of great advice for authors who want to really turn up for their books and promote them (self-pub or trad-pub) but do it in a way that is wholly 'them'.
From my perspective, a lax senior, whose no one to nobody. This is a lengthy dialog, seems to spend too many words of 'this and that'. Doing something always has its own rewards. Subject one. Doing something well, an opinion. Subject two. Conclusion not clear. Subject three.
I don't expect to make money, don't need to make money, and that seems to be the object of too many writers. Early in the last century I sent Amazon some novellas, I sold some. Most in England and Australia. As a U.S. citizen I was baffled. I gave up sending anything I wrote to anyone, but I did pay two editors to edit two 130K books. I got back revisions to grammar, nothing constructive to structure.
That's all interesting - and how annoying about the editors. "Edit" covers so many different possibilities, doesn't it - and it can be hard to be sure you'll get the kind of editing you want. It seems to me that knowing what you want - money, readers, connection - is the key to deciding how to tackle all these things.
Winter Solstice is not a good time for this discussion, for me at any rate. I have every reason to push forward with all my writing projects but currently am thinking 'why bother?' I do not want sympathy or to be told to 'get over yourself, others are really suffering out there. Why do I want an agent who believes my novel will sell, and the editor who shares his/her enthusiasm? Because I am one of many, because we all have a right to be published or do we? I suppose I want validation and that, as the cheesy ad, says, "I'm worth it.' Aren't we all?
Oh, Sally, I don't think "get over your self" is almost ever a helpful thing for anyone to say! Validation is key, isn't it - and of course it takes different forms for different people. I hope that you find a route to it soon.
I have just been tacking something very similar in a five-post series on my Substack. Here's the last post: https://iangouge.substack.com/p/there-is-no-right-way-to-write-5
Oooh, thanks for that Ian. I'm under the cosh with seasonal slog, but will dig into that as soon as I get a minute.
I was discouraged by a review. However I continued writing because I enjoy writing. The chance of my being published again aren't high. They'd be less if I didn't write, and even less likely if I didn't try to improve. I learn so much by writing. I meet some lovely people and read great books. Happy writing.
Thank you. I needed this. I have too many voices in my head demanding to be pleased. They are suffocating my creativity.
Yes, Anne Lamott's Chattering White Mice have a lot to answer for... I hope you can find a nice, soundproof jar to put them in, and pop the lid on...
Thanks for this post, Emma. I really do love these ideas. You are almost suggesting a kind of life orchestration. Appreciating and planning for the interdependencies between the threads of our lives sounds really valuable.
If we allow ourselves to reflect on our lives as a whole, professionally, domestically, privately, maybe we can even experience at times a certain JOMO — the joy of missing out on some outcomes in favour of others.
Awesome post. I may need to lie down for a while and ponder! Have a wonderful holiday break!
So glad you like the post, Julian! I think "interdependencies" is probably the word I spent that whole post looking for. And yes, I think it can be possible to feel "Well, I didn't do X because I was doing Y - and that's Just Great!" As when some big arrangement cancels at the last minute, and you find useful and fruitful things to do with the sudden gap in life, that you'd never have done otherwise. Have a good break too!
Excellent post before the Christmas rest - I feel it is very important to be clear on what feels right for one's own path and to not get drawn into the trap of thinking that somebody else's formula or ten-easy-tips-to-overnight-success type processes will allow one to short cut the hard work. My grandmother always used to say "what is intended for you will not pass you by" as a reminder to relax and trust in oneself. As I now say to my kids, as long as you're a) turning up, b) being fully present whilst there, c) speaking your truth and d) letting go of there having to be specific outcomes then you're doing as much as any human working in earth time is really capable of.
The MS that I put through your JW Self-Edit Course with the wonderful Debi Alper has garnered 63 rejections to date... It's disappointing, but I'm not disappointed. There are more agents turning on their submissions pipeline in the new year - one of them might like it. If they do or if they don't, that MS has taught me a huge amount and helped me build my resilience. Odds are it won't be read by many more people in the world, it'll stay "under my bed"... But it was still worth me turning up to etc etc.
I feel the same way about my current WIP - just gotta honour this new story in similar way to honouring that last one...
:) Thanks again, Emma for all your advice and encouragement. Merry Christmas.
P.S. Have you heard of Dan Blank and his We Grow Media - he has lots of great advice for authors who want to really turn up for their books and promote them (self-pub or trad-pub) but do it in a way that is wholly 'them'.