When trying to be a writer one can become very lonely and discouraged. I think back to an episode of Wings where the cello player auditioned for Charles from Mash. He told her to quit playing - that she wasn't good enough to make the orchestra. She found this very liberating, though sad. Well, eventually they got her another audition and he told her she might eventually make it if she worked extra extra hard. I think as writers we keep on writing over the long term because we have no other choice. There have been many times when I've wanted to quit. But I can't conceive of a life without writing, so here I am back on my horse charging through the forest.
With a newfound desire to be positive I thought I would start this blog off with something nice. I can not promise that spirit will remain!
When I was very little I spent my summers on the Cape. Somewhere around age 8 to 10 we would go to the Cape Playhouse and see theatrical productions for children. They performed fantasy classics like Robin Hood and King Arthur and these were a lot of fun. But the best part was that after the play was over, the actors signed autographs for the kids. When they did this, the actors would sign as "Robin Hood" and "Maid Marian" rather than with their 'real' names. I got a huge kick out of it. I was able to suspend my disbelief enough to take them for being who they said they were. It was something like if Robin Hood was in a play, playing the part of Robin Hood.
Recently, I went to a Star Trek convention and got an autograph of one of my favorite characters. It was an oddly powerful experience. I felt transported back in time to that place of 8 year old innocence, and I couldn't help but feel that it brought out the best part of me. Fantasy and science fiction are obviously more powerful for those of us who have difficulty fitting in with the goals of 'real life.' When we see the actors and writers of our favorite stories putting themselves out there and sharing something nice with the fans, it helps us find our way home to our sense of wonder and belief. For me, this was as rewarding as the story itself.
I see you have one novel. That's a start. Although I don't like the term, beginning "Indie" writers like you and I don't stand a chance in the larger scheme of things. I don't enter writing contests because it is so demoralizing to be the one in 100 (or more, depending upon the popularity of the contest) that wins.
I tell everyone that your books won't sell, in spite of what your friends and relatives tell you. As LaBelle Rouge and shown us in her advice from great authors, many of them didn't sell for many years, and it was only after building a reputation and dogged persistence that they finally had a book or story that sold big.
We should all write for the peer joy of it. I do. And when someone likes my writing, it makes me happy. If they don't, that's all right, too. I like fantasy and prefer truly science-based science fiction although science fantasy and science soap opera like Star Trek and Star Wars seems to sell much bigger because it is full of action and all that bull ship that those into escapism like.
Keep writing and improving your writing through the best advice you can get, and know that your legacy will be what you have written and shared with others, rather than your fame playing some other "character" other than yourself.
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enjoyed reading your informative narrative
I look forward to reading more of your work.
m
I tell everyone that your books won't sell, in spite of what your friends and relatives tell you. As LaBelle Rouge and shown us in her advice from great authors, many of them didn't sell for many years, and it was only after building a reputation and dogged persistence that they finally had a book or story that sold big.
We should all write for the peer joy of it. I do. And when someone likes my writing, it makes me happy. If they don't, that's all right, too. I like fantasy and prefer truly science-based science fiction although science fantasy and science soap opera like Star Trek and Star Wars seems to sell much bigger because it is full of action and all that bull ship that those into escapism like.
Keep writing and improving your writing through the best advice you can get, and know that your legacy will be what you have written and shared with others, rather than your fame playing some other "character" other than yourself.
Ron