24 April 2011

Comfort or Despair

There are a lot of us about. Writers, that is. I have found an enormous community out there, all obsessed with writing, getting published, selling books. I don't know whether I should be comforted by so many similar people sharing similar goals or whether I should forget my own aspirations in the face of overwhelming competition.

Although we writers support and encourage each other, applaud every publishing contract, cheer every sale, the grim reality remains that those successes are not mine.

It's hard to get published, few manage it. Even that is not sufficient in itself. We writers need to be read. It's the fuel that powers our work. Again, this market is finite. If someone is reading your work, they aren't reading mine.

Worth comes into it in a big way for me. Is my writing worthy of a readership? Am I worthy enough to be a proper writer?

Based on comparison with a masterpiece like David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet", the answer is a resounding "NO, NEVER!"

So why bother?

There's no prospect of me writing like a Mitchell or a Banks, but there would be no point to it either. They do the job perfectly.
Also, amazingly, not everyone wants to read Mitchell or Banks. I spoke to a friend who is a big fan of David Mitchell and she couldn't get through Thousand Autumns, found it uninteresting.

Also, readers read quicker than we authors write. Much quicker. And there are a lot more readers than writers.

I better get cracking then. Finish Due Diligence, edit Technical Difficulties, write as long and as well as I can.

My readers are waiting, agog.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 comments:

  1. When I started reading your post, it sounded as though you were about to say you were giving up writing. I was glad to see that you're not. We all go through days like this. Keep at it - you'll get there in the end, even though sometimes it can seem like a long way off.

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  2. I find writing very theraputic. It has been my aid in keeping me in the 'now' moment and not worrying about other stresses in life. You love to write, people love to read. As you right you move forward. As you move forward, you get closer to your destination. You can't give up. It's in our blood...

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