Monday, May 5, 2014

Harsh Writerly Truths? Well, Bob Mayer's Post is Interesting

Sometimes we writers get to feeling a little claustrophobic, like we've been huddling in a dark closet so long that our eyes begin to play tricks on us and we can almost believe the entire world has gone dark and we're actually balancing on the top of the Eiffel tower.
 And if we move we'll fall a million miles to the ground and be crushed to death.

 (Don't tell me I'm the only one who has scared themselves near to death with an overactive imagination in the dark...?)

 Anyway, it's hard to trust who might actually be trusted out there... and sometimes we really do want some plain-fact truths to help us get our heads straight and... just reach out and touch that closet wall and reassure ourselves that the restrictions are to be worked within, not imagined away.

Recently, Bob Mayer posted a highly interesting piece on what he termed "13 Harsh Truths" about the writer's life.

I particularly like 4 and 5, particularly the last part of 4. There's no way all the people who claim to have a secret to successful writing, and will tell you how in their "How to Be A Successful Novelist" book, actually know how to be a successful novelist. A real novelist will more likely be writing that next novel... or not. Maybe how to be a successful novelist mostly involves selling a self-help book to writer's everywhere? Hmmm?
   Yep, there's a reason the Self Help section is considered the best bets by publishers.
   And yes, most writers will spend far more on books than they ever earn from books.
    But that just means you have to look beneath the layers when someone's trying to, literally, sell you something.

  But really, you should go take a look, 'cause all his points are thought-worthy.


     Did you read them? 
What do you think of the list?


5 comments:

Bob said...

Good point about those who spend their time telling others how to write are actually not writing their own books.

E. KaIser Writes said...

Thanks for commenting, sir! I'm honored you took the time on my little blog!
P.S. Not sure if it's your intent or not, but I noticed the link for your name doesn't take us anywhere... I'm not sure how to even change that if it's a tech-malfunction, but thought you might like to know!
Again, thanks for stopping by!
Elizabeth

Deborah O'Carroll said...

Yep. I've long ago gotten sick of all the books (and blogs) on writing by people who've never written an interesting thing in their lives. :P

Nice post, Elizabeth! :)

Unknown said...

I LOVE this post! I get so bugged with the advice book culture. It amazes me how much money people make from telling everyone else how to live and do things--you'd think the rest of the world had more spunk and was ok with doing stuff anyway, minus all these self help books.
And advice book writers are basically never good fiction writers. It's very noticeable.

E. KaIser Writes said...

Thanks for commenting, girls! Glad that thought resonated with you as well. I know that everybody's got to make a living, and I applaud those who are being creative about going after making their own money; but the endless "schill" part of a lot of those kinds of livelihoods leaves me feeling uncomfortable. :-)

Hmmm... so, Hannah, you're saying I should write a book "How to Craft Great Descriptions" ? ;-) Maybe that's how I could become a rich and famous author!!! ;-)