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Uh, huh. Yeah right!! Looks like you have been sucked back into the City-Data Vortex!+ We've missed you!
From the wife of a City-Data addict. By the way, I am thinking of starting up a City-Data support group.
Please start the support group now--I am impatiently waiting for my CP to get her comments back to me this week so I can submit my requested materials. I started my edits this weekend. Once school starts up, I'll be at it full time. If you see me here--send in an intervention crew LOL.
Wannabes is probably an unfortunate word choice. By that, I don't mean the people who are actively working at their craft, but rather the people who talk about being writers, but don't actually write.
There are a few people who may never put their words onto paper, but then there are those who will and all it takes is real encouragement and a person who genuinely wants them to push through the wall of fear stopping them from taking it to the next level because writing isn't the problem. It's fear of rejection. And it takes a lot of courage to write a novel and then try to sell it. Staying in the almost there bracket keeps that rejection from materializing.
And the first draft is for the writer, not for anyone else. It's the subsequent drafts that are for potential readers. The first important reader is that agent/editor one wants to land. Perhaps the proper response to the people who say they want to write for themselves is to tell them to do it for every first draft. But then the real work of revision begins. If they can't do that, then they won't get paid. But they'll still be writers. JMO
If you can write something and be paid for it and use that money to pay the bills - and you do that consistently and above any other 'job' - you're a writer. I've been doing that part-time since 1994, full-time since 2000. Yes. I'm a writer...and I wouldn't trade what I do for anything else in the world.
Okay. This is a thread that is not about snobbery. It's not a thread that's trying to divide working writers from the wannabes. However, it is a kick in the pants, a bit of tough love if you will.
I am a writer. A freelance writer. Mostly advertising (Which can be highly creative, thanks. I don't write car dealer ads where the guy threatens to eat a live bug on television). I also write a lot of magazine articles. I have had one novel published several years ago (Which I refuse to lay claim to. It's a really crappy book and I have the honesty to admit it), another agented one bouncing around a publisher's office, and a third in the works. I earn my living with words, and make excellent money doing so.
Yet I recently returned from a writers conference that was absolutely swarming with people who claimed to be writers, but had never written anything beyond a note to their son's elementary school teacher. If you've ever been to a writer's conference, you know the type. They pepper the speakers with inane questions such as 'Where do you get your story ideas?' or--even worse--'How much money do you make off your novels?' Trust me, the 20% of people who are actually writers at those conferences roll their eyes at those questions.
Hey, we all started somewhere. We were all newbies at one time or another. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. And those of us who actually write for a living, no matter what form it takes, understand how hard it is to get started. So if you've managed to get a couple of things sold, even if it's the shortest article in the history of mankind, even if it's a joke you sold to Reader's Digest for $25, then you're a colleague.
What concerns me here are the perpetual newbies. The ones who are in love with the idea of being writers, but won't get off their butts to actually be writers. The aforementioned writers conference, a modest affair, has the same people year after year asking the same questions, but those people never seem to be moving forward on their craft.
In the interesting of HELPING, let me offer some hard questions to ask yourself.
Have you written more than a handful of notes in the past year?
If you actually have something underway, has it progressed at all in the past year, or is the file just sitting on your word processor?
Have you actually submitted something, anything in the past year? By that I don't mean a novel manuscript, but anything, even an article for the local interest magazine.
If you are attending writer's conferences, are you submitting anything to be critiqued? Or are you just content to sit in lectures listening to writers talk about how great it is to be a writer?
Do you have other people read your stuff? By that, I'm not talking about your spouse, your mother, or your best friend, but rather other writers who will tell you their honest opinions.
Do you have umpteen different books on writing on your shelf? Typically speaking, the first book you read on the subject is a revelation. The second one will usually fill in the gaps that the first one did not cover. But after the third or fourth book, you're stalling.
Did you buy The Writers Market before you had anything to sell?
If you're answering YES to any of these things, here's what I would gently offer to help you out.
-- Write. Every. Day. Even if you're just scribbling random thoughts in a journal. Turn off the idiot box. Get up thirty minutes early. Whatever it takes. But a writer doesn't just think about writing. He writes. Spend thirty minutes a day writing, and you'll be amazed at the sheer volume of stuff you generate over the course of a year.
-- Write for the love of it, not the money. I read somewhere that there are 200 writers in the United States who actually live off their books. That means that, the day after your 20 copies from the publisher arrive on your doorstep, you will probably go back to your job at the bank or the Social Security Administration. But that's okay, because you're in this to have your stuff read, right?
-- If you're going every year to a writer's conference and attending the same seminars every year, then you're in a rut. Change your emphasis from podium-centered conferences to critique-based conferences.
-- Network. Talk to other aspiring writers. Take a more established writer to lunch. Learn what they did.
-- Join a critique group. After you've really polished your writing, put it in front of people who are excellent editors. Yes, it's painful. But so is the aftermath of your first session with a trainer, too.
-- Hit up publications for small writing assignments. Articles. Whatever. Anything to get your writing chops (And a by-line). Trust me. When you couple of pubs start using you, it gets a lot easier to sell yourself to others.
I hope I didn't touch any nerves with this thread. All I'm trying to do is level with you in hopes that you'll move forward and fulfill your most cherished aspiration of seeing your name in print and having total strangers react to it in a positive fashion. Hope this helps.
Okay. This is a thread that is not about snobbery. It's not a thread that's trying to divide working writers from the wannabes. However, it is a kick in the pants, a bit of tough love if you will.
I am a writer. A freelance writer. Mostly advertising (Which can be highly creative, thanks. I don't write car dealer ads where the guy threatens to eat a live bug on television). I also write a lot of magazine articles. I have had one novel published several years ago (Which I refuse to lay claim to. It's a really crappy book and I have the honesty to admit it), another agented one bouncing around a publisher's office, and a third in the works. I earn my living with words, and make excellent money doing so.
Yet I recently returned from a writers conference that was absolutely swarming with people who claimed to be writers, but had never written anything beyond a note to their son's elementary school teacher. If you've ever been to a writer's conference, you know the type. They pepper the speakers with inane questions such as 'Where do you get your story ideas?' or--even worse--'How much money do you make off your novels?' Trust me, the 20% of people who are actually writers at those conferences roll their eyes at those questions.
Hey, we all started somewhere. We were all newbies at one time or another. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. And those of us who actually write for a living, no matter what form it takes, understand how hard it is to get started. So if you've managed to get a couple of things sold, even if it's the shortest article in the history of mankind, even if it's a joke you sold to Reader's Digest for $25, then you're a colleague.
What concerns me here are the perpetual newbies. The ones who are in love with the idea of being writers, but won't get off their butts to actually be writers. The aforementioned writers conference, a modest affair, has the same people year after year asking the same questions, but those people never seem to be moving forward on their craft.
In the interesting of HELPING, let me offer some hard questions to ask yourself.
Have you written more than a handful of notes in the past year?
If you actually have something underway, has it progressed at all in the past year, or is the file just sitting on your word processor?
Have you actually submitted something, anything in the past year? By that I don't mean a novel manuscript, but anything, even an article for the local interest magazine.
If you are attending writer's conferences, are you submitting anything to be critiqued? Or are you just content to sit in lectures listening to writers talk about how great it is to be a writer?
Do you have other people read your stuff? By that, I'm not talking about your spouse, your mother, or your best friend, but rather other writers who will tell you their honest opinions.
Do you have umpteen different books on writing on your shelf? Typically speaking, the first book you read on the subject is a revelation. The second one will usually fill in the gaps that the first one did not cover. But after the third or fourth book, you're stalling.
Did you buy The Writers Market before you had anything to sell?
If you're answering YES to any of these things, here's what I would gently offer to help you out.
-- Write. Every. Day. Even if you're just scribbling random thoughts in a journal. Turn off the idiot box. Get up thirty minutes early. Whatever it takes. But a writer doesn't just think about writing. He writes. Spend thirty minutes a day writing, and you'll be amazed at the sheer volume of stuff you generate over the course of a year.
-- Write for the love of it, not the money. I read somewhere that there are 200 writers in the United States who actually live off their books. That means that, the day after your 20 copies from the publisher arrive on your doorstep, you will probably go back to your job at the bank or the Social Security Administration. But that's okay, because you're in this to have your stuff read, right?
-- If you're going every year to a writer's conference and attending the same seminars every year, then you're in a rut. Change your emphasis from podium-centered conferences to critique-based conferences.
-- Network. Talk to other aspiring writers. Take a more established writer to lunch. Learn what they did.
-- Join a critique group. After you've really polished your writing, put it in front of people who are excellent editors. Yes, it's painful. But so is the aftermath of your first session with a trainer, too.
-- Hit up publications for small writing assignments. Articles. Whatever. Anything to get your writing chops (And a by-line). Trust me. When you couple of pubs start using you, it gets a lot easier to sell yourself to others.
I hope I didn't touch any nerves with this thread. All I'm trying to do is level with you in hopes that you'll move forward and fulfill your most cherished aspiration of seeing your name in print and having total strangers react to it in a positive fashion. Hope this helps.
I just attended the WD writer's conference. It seemed to me that there were fewer of these types there, and that's probably because the conference theme was the business of writing. Legal issues, using technology, building your platform, etc.
I have been in writing workshops where critiquing one another was the main point of the workshop, yet some members never took their turn to hand in their work for critique--likely because they hadn't actually written anything.
As to your question--yes, I am a writer. During the day I make my living putting together some of the dullest nonfiction on the planet--contract and bid documents. In my real life, I've had a few things published (only one in a nationally-circulated magazine), got an honorable mention in a writing contest, and I wrote and gave eulogies for both my father and brother that brought both laughter and tears each time. The bulk of my writing has been nonfiction.
I planned to continue writing and perhaps see if I could establish myself freelancing so that I could continue with that after I retire someday--never had any interest in writing an entire book...until last year, when this story line that has been rolling around in my head clashed with a fascination I have in a historical event and--well, I'm writing a novel. It's painful and hard and I'm obsessed and I just cannot stop.
So am I a writer?? I don't know if I'm a writer. I've been a left brained tech head my whole life. Never had any interest in writing or expressing myself, until recently. The OP makes a point of telling us to write for the love of writing, not the money. Also we shouldn't be in love with the "idea" of being a "writer." We should should spend 30 min a day just writing. We should also network, or join a critic group.
Wise words I'm sure. I have no doubt about that. The OP is one of the most eloquent writers this forum has ever seen.
Okay. This is a thread that is not about snobbery. It's not a thread that's trying to divide working writers from the wannabes. However, it is a kick in the pants, a bit of tough love if you will.
I am a writer. A freelance writer. Mostly advertising (Which can be highly creative, thanks. I don't write car dealer ads where the guy threatens to eat a live bug on television). I also write a lot of magazine articles. I have had one novel published several years ago (Which I refuse to lay claim to. It's a really crappy book and I have the honesty to admit it), another agented one bouncing around a publisher's office, and a third in the works. I earn my living with words, and make excellent money doing so.
Yet I recently returned from a writers conference that was absolutely swarming with people who claimed to be writers, but had never written anything beyond a note to their son's elementary school teacher. If you've ever been to a writer's conference, you know the type. They pepper the speakers with inane questions such as 'Where do you get your story ideas?' or--even worse--'How much money do you make off your novels?' Trust me, the 20% of people who are actually writers at those conferences roll their eyes at those questions.
Hey, we all started somewhere. We were all newbies at one time or another. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. And those of us who actually write for a living, no matter what form it takes, understand how hard it is to get started. So if you've managed to get a couple of things sold, even if it's the shortest article in the history of mankind, even if it's a joke you sold to Reader's Digest for $25, then you're a colleague.
What concerns me here are the perpetual newbies. The ones who are in love with the idea of being writers, but won't get off their butts to actually be writers. The aforementioned writers conference, a modest affair, has the same people year after year asking the same questions, but those people never seem to be moving forward on their craft.
In the interesting of HELPING, let me offer some hard questions to ask yourself.
Have you written more than a handful of notes in the past year?
If you actually have something underway, has it progressed at all in the past year, or is the file just sitting on your word processor?
Have you actually submitted something, anything in the past year? By that I don't mean a novel manuscript, but anything, even an article for the local interest magazine.
If you are attending writer's conferences, are you submitting anything to be critiqued? Or are you just content to sit in lectures listening to writers talk about how great it is to be a writer?
Do you have other people read your stuff? By that, I'm not talking about your spouse, your mother, or your best friend, but rather other writers who will tell you their honest opinions.
Do you have umpteen different books on writing on your shelf? Typically speaking, the first book you read on the subject is a revelation. The second one will usually fill in the gaps that the first one did not cover. But after the third or fourth book, you're stalling.
Did you buy The Writers Market before you had anything to sell?
If you're answering YES to any of these things, here's what I would gently offer to help you out.
-- Write. Every. Day. Even if you're just scribbling random thoughts in a journal. Turn off the idiot box. Get up thirty minutes early. Whatever it takes. But a writer doesn't just think about writing. He writes. Spend thirty minutes a day writing, and you'll be amazed at the sheer volume of stuff you generate over the course of a year.
-- Write for the love of it, not the money. I read somewhere that there are 200 writers in the United States who actually live off their books. That means that, the day after your 20 copies from the publisher arrive on your doorstep, you will probably go back to your job at the bank or the Social Security Administration. But that's okay, because you're in this to have your stuff read, right?
-- If you're going every year to a writer's conference and attending the same seminars every year, then you're in a rut. Change your emphasis from podium-centered conferences to critique-based conferences.
-- Network. Talk to other aspiring writers. Take a more established writer to lunch. Learn what they did.
-- Join a critique group. After you've really polished your writing, put it in front of people who are excellent editors. Yes, it's painful. But so is the aftermath of your first session with a trainer, too.
-- Hit up publications for small writing assignments. Articles. Whatever. Anything to get your writing chops (And a by-line). Trust me. When you couple of pubs start using you, it gets a lot easier to sell yourself to others.
I hope I didn't touch any nerves with this thread. All I'm trying to do is level with you in hopes that you'll move forward and fulfill your most cherished aspiration of seeing your name in print and having total strangers react to it in a positive fashion. Hope this helps.
Yeah I write, but usually somewhat twisted and weird miscellanea from the depths of my imagination like fictional plane crashes and such. Well, it's something.
Yeah I write, but usually somewhat twisted and weird miscellanea from the depths of my imagination like fictional plane crashes and such. Well, it's something.
Sounds good I have been a real-life disaster junkie since childhood, but made-up ones work for me, too.
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