I'm glad you're enjoying the conversation. I'm sure it must be weird to hear about someone doing your job, basically, for free.
Not really; when a writer first starts out writing for publication, there's never a guarantee; there's just bloody-minded determination and the slow climb toward getting better, being Good Enough. But in the end? It can take years, it's a slog -- and if you don't love it, if you don't love the stories & the characters & the vision -- you're crazy.
IMHO.
At some point, it's easier. At some point, you sell more than you don't sell. And at some point you figure out what you're doing. Sort of. Then you do worry about everything associated -- agents, publishers, chains, placement, -- all the things that aren't writing. I love the example of the wine-maker.
Hobbies take a lot of work, but you do them for the joy of doing them, and turning any hobby into a business is changing the nature of the activity.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-10-21 04:23 pm (UTC)Not really; when a writer first starts out writing for publication, there's never a guarantee; there's just bloody-minded determination and the slow climb toward getting better, being Good Enough. But in the end? It can take years, it's a slog -- and if you don't love it, if you don't love the stories & the characters & the vision -- you're crazy.
IMHO.
At some point, it's easier. At some point, you sell more than you don't sell. And at some point you figure out what you're doing. Sort of. Then you do worry about everything associated -- agents, publishers, chains, placement, -- all the things that aren't writing. I love the example of the wine-maker.
Hobbies take a lot of work, but you do them for the joy of doing them, and turning any hobby into a business is changing the nature of the activity.