Thursday Thirteen--things I'm Glad I Didn't Know Before
before I got published, I mean.
later on: It occurs to me that the author of this piece is a chocolate-deprived PMSing female confronting some major plotting issues. This constitutes an emergency.
I test the stomach. Can it do chocolate?
Yes. Successful bitchmutha soothing occurs. . . .
If I had another list, say, "13 things I love about being published" I'd replace this whinefest. I don't. It's late. eleven thirrty pee-emm and no one'll read it anyway.
1. Just because I get published once doesn't mean it'll happen again any time soon.
2. The people who are unpublished are generally hungrier and more optimistic than me.
3. The glow doesn't last as long as the fretting. (But it's pretty nice...don't get me wrong.)
4. Lovely helpful people on experienced author loops are truly lovely, but they might not be right.
5. The ones who are gloomy are often right.
6. The other pubbed are probably shaking their heads at the enthusiasm of the newly first-published writers when they first post on pubbed-only loops. Some regard the new ones with affection, some with envy, some with impatience--very few have a sense that the newly-pubbed person is One of Us.
7. One of Us doesn't truly exist. Except in smaller groups. OoU, a true community, or three, or four, does happen, but not everyone is at the same stage, at least not for long.
8. Celebrating success for me, for friends and even for strangers is fun. Yet some of my unpubbed friends are not delighted and are not going to hold back their negative emotion about my success. As usual, I forgive snide remarks that are funny, but it turns out many won't strike me as humorous.
9. When those friends are finally published, they will be Friendly Again. But there will be a gap that remains.
10. The internal rift is particularly evident when I get a hot-and-cold friend's yahoo group letter announcing the newest multi-book contract. (Yah? Like I send you a happy yippee note? Truth is, I do nowadays again. I'm over it and that's nice.)
11. See, 9 and 10 were the things I knew I wasn't going to feel when I listened to the long talks by published authors about Envy and other Negative Emotions in the Trade. Ha. I knew myself better than that. I believed in the sisterhood of writers.
I still do, but not as thoroughly as I once did.
12. The books aren't available on shelves very long. Amazon is eventually your friend, as long as you don't look at those numbers.
13. The world of publishing moves at glacial speed, except when it pounces and demands faster results! Now! Immediately!
Kind of like the world of cops/pilots/soldiers = many hours of waiting** followed by a few minutes of panic.
__________
**The phrase is supposed to be "many hours of boredom", but with writing, at least that's not true. Frustration, maybe.
later on: It occurs to me that the author of this piece is a chocolate-deprived PMSing female confronting some major plotting issues. This constitutes an emergency.
I test the stomach. Can it do chocolate?
Yes. Successful bitchmutha soothing occurs. . . .
If I had another list, say, "13 things I love about being published" I'd replace this whinefest. I don't. It's late. eleven thirrty pee-emm and no one'll read it anyway.
1. Just because I get published once doesn't mean it'll happen again any time soon.
2. The people who are unpublished are generally hungrier and more optimistic than me.
3. The glow doesn't last as long as the fretting. (But it's pretty nice...don't get me wrong.)
4. Lovely helpful people on experienced author loops are truly lovely, but they might not be right.
5. The ones who are gloomy are often right.
6. The other pubbed are probably shaking their heads at the enthusiasm of the newly first-published writers when they first post on pubbed-only loops. Some regard the new ones with affection, some with envy, some with impatience--very few have a sense that the newly-pubbed person is One of Us.
7. One of Us doesn't truly exist. Except in smaller groups. OoU, a true community, or three, or four, does happen, but not everyone is at the same stage, at least not for long.
8. Celebrating success for me, for friends and even for strangers is fun. Yet some of my unpubbed friends are not delighted and are not going to hold back their negative emotion about my success. As usual, I forgive snide remarks that are funny, but it turns out many won't strike me as humorous.
9. When those friends are finally published, they will be Friendly Again. But there will be a gap that remains.
10. The internal rift is particularly evident when I get a hot-and-cold friend's yahoo group letter announcing the newest multi-book contract. (Yah? Like I send you a happy yippee note? Truth is, I do nowadays again. I'm over it and that's nice.)
11. See, 9 and 10 were the things I knew I wasn't going to feel when I listened to the long talks by published authors about Envy and other Negative Emotions in the Trade. Ha. I knew myself better than that. I believed in the sisterhood of writers.
I still do, but not as thoroughly as I once did.
12. The books aren't available on shelves very long. Amazon is eventually your friend, as long as you don't look at those numbers.
13. The world of publishing moves at glacial speed, except when it pounces and demands faster results! Now! Immediately!
Kind of like the world of cops/pilots/soldiers = many hours of waiting** followed by a few minutes of panic.
__________
**The phrase is supposed to be "many hours of boredom", but with writing, at least that's not true. Frustration, maybe.
Things I'm glad I didn't know:
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I can live and pay the rent on what I do for a living. Being a writer means living in poverty.
There's No way to pay health insurance when you're a writer. Luckily I live in France, but I have friends in the states with grave maladies and no way to treat them.
No one recognizes me in the supermarket. Even people I know. Am I so bland? I'm a writer, dammit!
I still don't get royalty payments that make my heart sing. If you really want to know, replace the 'G' with a 'K'.
On the average, writers make approximately 3.05 cents a day.
Hmm. Sam, I think I could pick you or Kate out of a crowd.
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