THE little MATTER OF GIVING UP

 

I have writing friends who say they are giving up.

 

They’re giving up writing new stories, querying agents, submitting to small publishers, and even giving up on interacting with other writers on chat groups.

 

They are dismayed at the state of publishing. Some have had great publishing credits in the past. Others have had a modicum of success, and a few have had no publishing credits. All have no interest or means ($$$) to self-publish & promote.

 

It’s okay to give up. It’s okay to do so and later change your mind. It’s okay no matter what.

 

But if writing new stories is enriching, all the giving up talk makes no sense to me.

 

Why would you deprive yourself of the deep pleasure and stimulation that writing has given you? If it’s to spare the disappointment of rejection, then isn’t all of life full of setbacks and disappointments? These are in fact some of the most enriching aspects of life, even as emotional pain isn’t “fun.”

There will be eternity in the grave to rest life’s challenging turns. Until then, writers— tell your stories.

THE MONEY in WRITING

 

OR

WRITERS and MONEY

By some estimates there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who write full time. Some sources claim as many as one million. This last number includes those who write articles and writers of non-fiction.

 

I know, this is vague. But it’s sobering to look at the storytellers who write fiction, whose numbers are closer to three hundred thousand. (Who makes these estimates? How reliable are they? I plead confusion. But anyway…)

 

It’s sobering to realize only about three hundred fiction writers make a living solely from writing.

 

Cut that number by ninety percent to count the fiction writers who are seriously wealthy* from writing.

*Think Stephen King or J.K. Rowling

 

I received a decent advance only once, and royalties also only once, for two separate traditionally published books. This is my total fiction writing income to date.

{I was paid --nominally to decently-- for exactly four published articles, and a few times for editing work. This falls into the non-fiction category, which undoubtedly supports many more in the writing community.}

 

Here’s the kicker: I received (and continue to receive) nourishment from writing fiction, but money isn’t part of it.

 

If you’re to go down this road, it’s sobering and important to grasp how money fits or doesn't fit in. Many writers (many more than the likes of me) pay to be published. Some wind up paying substantial sums that they never recoup. Long ago, I was clear this pay-to-publish wasn’t going to be my way. Vanity or self-publishing didn’t interest me. Specifically, for kidlit-- it's a money-pit. 🙀

 

Go into it with awareness. Dreaming is fine. Your dreams may come true. But have your eyes open wide.

 

 Make sure you love writing for its own sake. That’s the bottom line.

The WHY of Writing

 

“To write is to fight forgetting.”

Annie Ernaux, Nobel laureate in literature 2022

 

 

Much is made of the impetus to write. Annie Ernaux is primarily a memoirist, and so the quotation above seems a perfect fit for her motivation. Fiction writing appears to be more about organizing one’s thoughts, ideas, and ideals. After all, what is there to forget when it comes to tales of the imagination?

 

I maintain that fiction is about truth, our truth, and by writing our truth down, carved of words-sentences-paragraphs-chapters-novels, we writers are fighting the human propensity to forget.

 

Fiction/fantasy is the cloak. The body is our truth as we make an attempt to chisel and give shape to it so it may be incorporated into the communal memory.

 

Fiction is often, nay— usually, bolder, and thus more honest. Ernaux is exceptionally honest, but in my experience only fiction allows a complete unveiling.

 

This is my mini-attempt to record and reveal my personal driving force. As the number of my years grows, I am fighting forgetting with increasing ferocity.

A PITCH with a PITCHFORK

 

Querying and pitching one’s work is a craft in itself. Books and hundreds of websites of how-to are devoted to this craft and will greet a searcher.

The bottom line is that pitching is competitive, and a pitch must stand out.

 

An article I read got me thinking about a thornier matter. This article suggests writers must pitch themselves (as in “I am the product”) before getting into the work they are offering.

 

I have to say this rubs me wrong. Nay, very wrong, especially for fiction, where you can’t box the imagination and narrative powers by saying, “I did such and such.” However, as wrong as it is, it’s also part of the truth regarding successful pitching.

 

Most how-to query formats say to start with the hook of the book and end with the cook, i.e., the writer. The art of good hooking sentence/paragraph could fill library shelves, and I have one small shelf of such in my room.

 

That’s rational. That’s how it should work.

Apparently, this isn’t how it works much of the time.

Of course, if (as in the examples cited in the post) the writer has won a Pulitzer or was the first to land an aircraft upside-down, (the aircraft or the pilot being bottom up) this alone is a hook of sorts. It gets attention. Sentence one will lead the publishing professional to read the next and, eventually (hopefully), a request to see more. That’s what pitching is about, after all.

 

But few have such monumental statements to make about self, and most pitching would wind up sounding like the “fun facts” many writers mistake for an interesting bio. You know, “I finished a jar of jelly beans in eight minutes and won the Jelly Queen title at the state fair” sort of nothings. I wrote a post about this before.

 

So what to do?

 

If you won a Pulitzer, it’s worth considering the selling-of-you in the first paragraph. I’m less inclined to agree with this for most of us, good hardworking storytellers.

 

Story comes first.

SO, AGAIN— WHAT’S WITH THE CALENDAR?

 

Or…

🎇Happy New Year🎇

A new calendar year spells a new beginning; a new (or renewed) chance at getting it right. A renewed hope that the faux-pas of the past would be left on the side of the road, and the motors (echo-clean, what else) would propel smoothly and the world would~~~

🌈Live happily ever after🌈

We know better. But hope ignites at the very mention of the new year.

 

Here’s my wish to all: the wisdom and strength to understand and cope with what’s ahead.

Now go forth and prosper.