Cocky

[rowyn]

We are all so absurdly cocky.

I don't know that anyone really deserves this rant, but I was just thinking it as I was reading about someone else's creative process. I was thinking of saying something about my own, and then I thought: What the heck do I know about how to write? What do I really know? I'm not a published author. I haven't published so much as a single short story (well, wait, there's "The Bribe" -- thanks, Tufty and Greywolf! -- but that's not exactly the most impressive credential). I haven't so much as finished writing a single novel. The closest I've come is wrapping up the occasional plot thread on Sinai.

So what do I know about it?

Moreover: what do all these folks talking about it know about it? 'Cause most of the people I hear going on about "their process" don't have credentials any more impressive than mine. And yet they talk, with the most amazing confidence, about "what it takes to get published" and "what works" and "what doesn't work" and "pitfalls to avoid" and on and on and on. I can't blame 'em, exactly. I do it, too. We parrot what we've read or been taught by someone else, or our fumblings as we move forward, or backwards, or sideways.

It's hard to take any of us very seriously. Maybe we're right. But goodness, how would we know if we are? If I believe Richard Bachman -- who at least has credentials -- I ought to have quit writing Prophecy six months ago and finished Silver Scales instead. But here I am, still going ... wherever I'm going. Whyever I'm going. I don't even know where this entry's going. Up in my journal, I guess.

Comments

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

You know about writing, if you write.

You know about publishing, if you work in the industry, or you've been published.

People seem to conflate the two. :)

[rowyn]

That seems true enough. :)

I felt a bit bad about this post almost before I posted it -- it's rather uncharacteristically vehement and generalized of me. None of my LJ friends are guilty of this sort of behavior, and now I'm worried that one of them might think, "Is she talking about me?" (No! I'm not! Honest.)

But I definitely do find myself thinking, "What business do I have advising other people on what might work for them? I don't even know what works for me, yet." :)

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Don't let it bother you too much! You might not know what works for you perfectly, but what you've heard, what you've considered, what you've tried and cast aside: any of these things might be new to the person you're talking to, and it might work for them.

We're all trying to spread as much knowledge around as possible. Some people are looking for clues in other people's creative processes. Others are just curious bystanders. Some want to know how to "make it." Others just want to know why they feel like they're incomplete, or why they feel like they're failing (even though they probably aren't).

There are people who've made it whose examples aren't worthy of emulation. There are people who never cared about fame or a career whose work habits (hobby habits?) and whose philosophies are very worth exploration. Material success is not a measure of artistic accomplishment. People forget, understandably, in their rush to become successful enough to not have to do anything but what they love. :)

[rowyn]

Don't let it bother you too much! You might not know what works for you perfectly, but what you've heard, what you've considered, what you've tried and cast aside: any of these things might be new to the person you're talking to, and it might work for them.

Good point. I think the subliminal inspiration for this entry was less listening to people talk about how to write -- about which most people are quite open-minded -- and more about people who talk about how to publish. I've heard rather a lot of people (not on LJ) say what I have to do if I want to get published. And they may be right -- I don't have any reason to say that they're not. But I've noticed that none of them are published, either, which does make me wonder. ;)

People forget, understandably, in their rush to become successful enough to not have to do anything but what they love. :)

Ironically, the more I work at writing, the more I wonder if I really love it this much. After all, my day job pays fairly well and isn't nearly this hard. :)

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

There are many myths to publishing... and one of them is that you have to quit your day job once you are rewarded. Many people don't, and continue to be successful on terms they've decided.

There's nothing wrong with that.

The truth about publishing writing is so simple that people like to embellish it. The secret formula is: Write. Finish what you write. Send it out until someone buys it.

Yes, it helps to network. Luck helps. You can pay people to buy your work, backwards as that is. But none of it makes up for... writing. Finishing what you write. And sending it out until someone buys it. :)

And while I don't have the credentials to be a cocky advice-giver on novels, I do to be a cocky advice-giver on short stories. :)

[rowyn]

The truth about publishing writing is so simple that people like to embellish it. The secret formula is: Write. Finish what you write. Send it out until someone buys it.

I want to thank you for this. I've been getting an earful of "you have to network to get published, you'll never get anywhere if you don't". And while I imagine there's some truth to this, I'm relieved to hear at least one person willing to stick up for the old "Just keep doing it" position. I've had trouble motivating myself to network, but writing up cover letters and sticking stories in envelopes ... I can actually manage that part. To some degree, anyway. :)

So I found your comment simultaneously encouraging and reassuring, and I appreciate that. I know I ought to at least try networking -- but this is a reminder that it won't hurt me to keep doing the write-mail-repeat method, either. :)

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Networking is good. It's also (catch 22!) much harder to do unless you're already published. Getting into the big parties is easier if you're already established.

I didn't need networking to sell my first stories... and in fact, those whispers you always hear that editors notice you even in the slush pile appear to be true. So keep sending your work in, over and over. Trust me, someone's read them and is keeping an eye on you. :)

[rowyn]

In fact, those whispers you always hear that editors notice you even in the slush pile appear to be true.

That's good to hear, too. I've been preoccupied with working on my novel lately, and not trying to write short stories. I'd like to do more shorts, though. There's something satisfying about being able to finish a concept in a matter of days instead of years. :) And it takes lots less time to get a story rejected than a novel, too. :)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I think you know very well how to write. You may not know how to finish a book, or polish it, or publish it, or teach someone else to write -- these are different skills, related but different.

I don't particularly know or care where my own writing is going, but it's being fun. That seems pretty appropriate for amateur-grade writing, for me.

[rowyn]

I don't particularly know or care where my own writing is going, but it's being fun.

Hurrah! That's always the best part. :)

That seems pretty appropriate for amateur-grade writing, for me.

Y'know, it just seems strange to me to hear you label your writing "amateur-grade". You've got more professional credentials than most anyone else on my friends list, after all. :)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

One small-press book, plus a moderate amount of nonfiction. Hemi-semi-demi-pro?

[rowyn]

That's still a lot more than most of us can claim. And how many people read Sythyry, hmmmm? :)

What non-fiction have you published?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Bard beams proudly]

217 friends as of today. Some are alts, and some probably don't read, and at least one is dead. But a few people read without showing up on the list.

I'm pretty pleased with it!

Nonfiction -- um -- assordid [sic] theoretical computer science crap.

Recommended reading.

[detroitfather.livejournal.com]

If you've not yet read it, I highly recommend Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor.

Are you familiar with O'Connor?

Re: Recommended reading.

[rowyn]

I've read a few of her short stories, none of which I recall to any degree. My general impression of her was not particularly favorable or unfavorable. (Come to think of it, I feel that way about quite a lot of the writers whose work I read during college.) I could do a whole entry on my feelings about writers of Literature, I imagine. Maybe I will. :)

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I find your writing abilities impressive, but also your discipline. Maybe Prophecy will turn out really well in the end, maybe it won't, but the important thing is that you're finishing what you start, which is more than a lot of people can say.

For the rest, well, perhaps it's a companionship thing. We're all on a creative journey, exploring our abilities to create. Sometimes we seek out masters to teach us, but sometimes we want to share our experiences with our friends and with those we think may be kindred spirits.

Are you speaking as if you knew the way to write? I don't think so; instead you're sharing what's worked for you, and what hasn't.

[rowyn]

Yes, well, I'm not certain about the talented part, but I have gotten stubborn. :)

Even there -- well, I ain't done yet. And even though I'm on track, word-count-wise, I'm getting somewhat dubious about whether or not I'll finish in December. I'm afraid the remainder of the book will take up more words than I'd hoped. :P Well, I'll see, one way or another.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

I am interested in the way you write, not in the belief that it is the way to write, let alone the way to get published, but simply because I enjoy what you write, and I wish that I could enjoy what I write as well. Therefore, I would like to learn more about how you go about it, in the hopes that I might learn something I can apply to my own writing. =)

[rowyn]

Y'know, I enjoyed "Rulesbreaker" a lot more than I enjoy "Prophecy". And I think the former is more original. ;)

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Grass is greener! Bah. ;)

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

There's no more a right way of writing than there's a right way for drawing. It's an art, not a science.

[rowyn]

And there's not even always just one right way to do things that are a science, for that matter. :)

[justbishop.livejournal.com]

It's odd to come across a post like this right now (I found you via jordangreywolf BTW)...

I'm just about to send a query letter to an agent, having spent the better part of a year working on my first book.

I set up a journal where I could put down book updates and reflect about the craft. Sounds pretentious, doesn't it? *grin*

For me, I'm always interested in how other writers write.. writing and creating is a highly personal thing.. everyone has their own way of doing it. For instance, I read King's On Writing and a book on writing by Terry Brooks back-to-back and both authors take a very different approach to the craft. I love discovering how the process works for people because maybe I'll learn something new about it. Maybe I'll see something that might work for me as well. I've been very insecure about this whole thing, since I've never written a book before. Was I "doing it right?" *shrug*

I figure, if I'm interested in knowing how other people do it, maybe other people will be interested in knowing how I do it. At the very least, sharing helps me better understand what I do by vocalizing it.

So far the journal's not much in the way of reflection.. more like whining.. ;)

That's my ramble.

[rowyn]

Hello! *waves*

So far the journal's not much in the way of reflection.. more like whining.. ;)

I can relate to that. When I talk about writing my book, it's mostly to whine, too. ("Wah! Writing is HARD!")

And I am curious about how other people go about creating. But I'm getting a lot more skeptical about the ones who say "You have to do this". Like, say, writing an outline for a novel. It turns out that even some successful, published authors don't use outlines when they write. :)

[justbishop.livejournal.com]

That's what I mean about King and Brooks. King just writes. He's like me... I'll think and think and think and ultimately write the whole thing in my head before I ever put it on paper. Brooks will sit down and outline and organize and plan beforehand. Two different approaches.

And you're right... writing *is* hard. *grin*

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

But very rewarding. :)