I think your approach is a sensible one. Online writer culture is awful, and it really should be about the work (and it can be, nobody has to do all of that other bullshit unless they want to however much they claim otherwise). And I don't think a couple of years with an agent unable to sell a book is that unusual. I do think people should quit when they want to quit (or take a break for a few years), but it sounds like, as you say, you're just starting a new chapter. Doing it your own way is the only way to write anything worthwhile anyway in my opinion.
This writer thing is brutal, let's face it. (I know I'm not saying anything new. 😄 ) There are wonderful moments, and there's also drudgery and rejection and pain. At this point, I think the best -- maybe the only -- reason to write is that you can't NOT write. It's true of me and I suspect it's true of you also, so I guess we just keep plodding along! Blessings and best wishes to you, my friend.
In the last 3 years, I’ve “given up” on several really big things and now all I can think is that I should have quit sooner. Sometimes grownups quit stuff and it’s ok.
For those of us who also have the "won't be happy until I publish a book or two" feeling--how did it feel when you held your first book in your hands, and your second one for that matter? Not talking about the bigger questions of trade-offs and whether it was worth the degrading interviews and such; just, did that moment feel the way you hoped it would? Did it take the edge off of that "gotta publish" feeling that had been with you for a long time? Was it anticlimactic? Some of both?
(Asking as someone who currently wishes he could put a stake in the heart of his writing aspirations, since they are beginning to feel like an unhealthy distraction from personal life and professional advancement....but we don't have to dig into that. I'm just interested to hear more about your experience.)
No more video game movies? Did you even see Sonic and Sonic 2? I thought Jim Carrey's role in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was peak Jim Carrey, but then I saw him as Robotnik and realized he had not fully begun to Jim Carrey (and now apparently is done Jim Carreying having achieved maximum Jim Carrey).
I think your approach is a sensible one. Online writer culture is awful, and it really should be about the work (and it can be, nobody has to do all of that other bullshit unless they want to however much they claim otherwise). And I don't think a couple of years with an agent unable to sell a book is that unusual. I do think people should quit when they want to quit (or take a break for a few years), but it sounds like, as you say, you're just starting a new chapter. Doing it your own way is the only way to write anything worthwhile anyway in my opinion.
"I fully resonate with all this." said Wilder, as he tapped away at his library desk computer.
This writer thing is brutal, let's face it. (I know I'm not saying anything new. 😄 ) There are wonderful moments, and there's also drudgery and rejection and pain. At this point, I think the best -- maybe the only -- reason to write is that you can't NOT write. It's true of me and I suspect it's true of you also, so I guess we just keep plodding along! Blessings and best wishes to you, my friend.
I stole your idea and I'm still not popular! (Maybe I shouldn't have hated so many books...)
In the last 3 years, I’ve “given up” on several really big things and now all I can think is that I should have quit sooner. Sometimes grownups quit stuff and it’s ok.
For those of us who also have the "won't be happy until I publish a book or two" feeling--how did it feel when you held your first book in your hands, and your second one for that matter? Not talking about the bigger questions of trade-offs and whether it was worth the degrading interviews and such; just, did that moment feel the way you hoped it would? Did it take the edge off of that "gotta publish" feeling that had been with you for a long time? Was it anticlimactic? Some of both?
(Asking as someone who currently wishes he could put a stake in the heart of his writing aspirations, since they are beginning to feel like an unhealthy distraction from personal life and professional advancement....but we don't have to dig into that. I'm just interested to hear more about your experience.)
Agreed on musicals & how surprisingly good Wonka is! I think Mean Girls might set the cause back though.
Meanwhile, I love your writing here & look forward to future novels.
No more video game movies? Did you even see Sonic and Sonic 2? I thought Jim Carrey's role in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was peak Jim Carrey, but then I saw him as Robotnik and realized he had not fully begun to Jim Carrey (and now apparently is done Jim Carreying having achieved maximum Jim Carrey).