Writing and Reading Links
I appreciated this post on professional jealousy. It’s something we all contend with at some time or another. I especially like the idea that other authors aren’t getting a book deal or being successful (or fill in the blank) “at” you. True!
Professional Jealousy :: Agents + Books
“Editor doesn’t want your book? Accept it. A major bookstore isn’t stocking it? Accept it. Your friend’s book seems to be getting all the book clubs and TV options and buzzy-buzzy Most Anticipated coverage? Accept it, and wish them well. Bad Goodreads reviews? Accept them and move on (or don’t read them at all.)”
Acceptance, Rejection, and the Acceptance of Rejection :: Writer Unboxed
“It’s okay for novels to go into the drawer. It’s okay to dust things off and try again. It’s okay to repeat that process over and over again until you get it right. It’s okay to never get it right!”
Nothing written has to be lost :: Nathan Bransford
“That book I trunked gave me much more than it took from me. It showed me that I could actually finish a long project and thus confidence to do it again. It gave me experience so I could do it better next time. It showed me how I write a book and what things do and don’t work for me. It gave me practice in character building, plotting, and dialog. I even edited it myself a few times and I got practice there, too. Even if it didn’t get published, it was one of the most valuable writing experiences of my life. It made the book I did get published easier to write.”
How to Be an Author: Book or Books? :: Agents + Books
This was a fun read about a very low-tech book campaign.
The Mystery of the Viral Book Flyer :: Attention Economy
A phenomenal one-minute video about L.M. Montgomery from Historica Canada’s Heritage Minutes.
The first words I read on the subject were Anne Lamott’s in her immortal Bird by Bird: “Jealousy is one of the occupational hazards of being a writer, and the most degrading.” I felt that she had read my petty little mind and assured me I wasn’t an awful person to feel as I did but that I shouldn’t let that feeling sweep me away.
Salman Rushdie has written off and on about the jealousy of writers, and his solution too is to refocus the eye on your own work: “The only reason to write is because you cannot avoid doing so because the book feels so necessary to you—not to the world, to you—that you have to. Those are the books to write. It takes a long time to write a book, and a very short time for it to be dismissed.”
Finally, didn’t Georgia O’Keeffe say something about criticism and praise all going down the same drain?
So it turns out that the very company we might feel envious of is assuring us that they too have been touched by the little green poison.
I love this, Uma. Thank you. I like the reminder that we all “go there” at times, but it’s not where we want to stay!