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. :)

[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.

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?

[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.

[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. =)

[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.

[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.