deviant ART

[x]
Subscribe Now | Buy deviantWEAR | Advertise Here

Ranting about non-writers

Categories Forums > Galleries > Poetry & Prose
Advertisement
^lovetodeviate:iconlovetodeviate: Mar 30, 2008, 10:43:43 AM
Recently I met an old friend of mine, and we were catching up. She asked me about this novel I had written back when we were in school together (I was sixteen; the novel was terrible; no surprise there). And before I could reply, she asked, "Did you get it published?"

I thought it was the most ridiculous question possible: a) she made it sound as if it was easy to get things published, as if you just wrote something, and once it was done, it was natural for someone to publish it for you; and b) um, if I had a published novel, wouldn't I have told everyone already? A sixteen-year-old with a published novel, even a terrible one, would easily make news.

I wanted to laugh, but managed not to. My mother does the same thing. "Why don't you just send your poems to a publisher? Why do you keep waiting?" How do I even respond to that?

Before I keep rambling on about the stupid questions I've been asked, let me open this to you: what's the most annoying thing a non-writer has asked you about your writing? (Doesn't have to be related to publishing.)

--
Literature Gallery Director

*Writers-Workshop | ~LineCount | *theunknownartists | `seniormentors

Devious Comments

love 0 0 joy 0 0 wow 0 0 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0

~Shurikane:iconShurikane: Mar 30, 2008, 10:56:26 AM
"Why don't you just send your poems to a publisher? Why do you keep waiting?"

This.

If you send your stuff to a publisher, chances are it won't get published. If you don't send your stuff to a publisher, you can be certain it won't get published.

So watcha gotta lose? ;)

--
Do you GOT IT?
^lovetodeviate:iconlovetodeviate: Mar 30, 2008, 11:02:45 AM
Oh, I send my work to lit mags. That's not too bad. But to send an entire collection to a publisher requires a lot more work. I don't even have half the required number of (revised, publishable) poems, let alone having those poems actually be part of the larger fabric of a collection. It's something I want to do, obviously, but right now, I have nothing.

--
Literature Gallery Director

*Writers-Workshop | ~LineCount | *theunknownartists | `seniormentors
~milksop:iconmilksop: Mar 30, 2008, 12:11:34 PM
I rarely have humans read my stuff in general, but i'd have to say that it's the absence of questioning, or ANY real response that kills me. haha, but now that I think about it, how about

"what's the point?"

--
I hung on that windy tree for nine nights wounded by my own spear.
I hung to that tree, and no one knows where it is rooted.
None gave me food. None gave me drink. Into the abyss I stared
until I spied the runes. I seized them up and, howling, fell
~Moonbeams:iconMoonbeams: Mar 30, 2008, 1:55:21 PM
The one question that has bothered me the most: "Why do you waste your time?" Or let's rephrase it: "Why don't you do something more productive?" Or "More worth-while?"

And then, once in a blue moon, when someone offline does see something I written, something I know is not the greatest and they fawn all over it as if it's the best writing they've ever seen. I find this more insulting than a direct insult. It's almost as if I'm being patronized.

I think the problem is that most people who've never really written, seriously for that matter, don't realize the amount of hard work, time, and dedication that goes into it, and so can't appreciate it on the same level that a writer does.

--
I crave cocoa when the wind hits my door; classic conditioning.

You should try not to live too much, you could end up dying.
~Moonbeams:iconMoonbeams: Mar 30, 2008, 2:00:39 PM
*"I've written" that always happens.

--
I crave cocoa when the wind hits my door; classic conditioning.

You should try not to live too much, you could end up dying.
~Judas130:iconJudas130: Mar 30, 2008, 2:00:48 PM
'i hate the books, i'd prefer to watch the film'

.....*anger rising*

our youths don't have the same connections to literature as people once did...when it was all they had.

i'd properly get my poems published and put into some for of an ordered 'book'. that can be done without much hassle...but i'm talking one copy. As in, you pay them to print it for you with a cover. it would be for personal use really...only because i write surreal and it'd interesting to look back in years to come and see what i was going on about. I think to get mass publication, you need to sing a few contracts with a fairly big book company and have them publish it if they like you. its HARD work. not at all easy.

--
A voice inside my head breaks the analogue ~ breathe in union, soul as one.

~Judas130
~Judas130:iconJudas130: Mar 30, 2008, 2:05:07 PM
the biggest compliment i find, is when people sit down and analyse what you've written and take it apart and draw there own meanings from what they see. saying what this or that could link to, symbolise etc. I think if someone actually spends time on your work, then thats a compliment. regardless if there is negative criticism.

its nice to see instead of a 'omgzzzz dats wel god man'.

tho if they wrote like that, chances are there wouldn't be reading.

--
A voice inside my head breaks the analogue ~ breathe in union, soul as one.

~Judas130
~pro-nunc:iconpro-nunc: Mar 30, 2008, 3:02:29 PM
'Why don't you get a real job?'

lol. That one always kills me.
`SparrowSong:iconSparrowSong: Mar 30, 2008, 3:28:50 PM
I don't like it when people ask to see what I write. My grandparents, for example, want to read a story I've written, but my stories are either awful or not to their taste. I also don't think they'd care for my poetry.

Writing is personal. I do put some where some of my offline friends can read it, but I don't link them to my dA page or put up anything dealing with my real feelings or real people. In fact, my best friends don't know that I'm on dA.
~patter:iconpatter: Mar 30, 2008, 4:23:00 PM
I actual think the opinions of the general public are worth listening to. I mean if you are writing it must be to get published, to waste time... or? Some reason you can explain in one sentence rather than having a awkward silence. I like to respond to questions about being published by pulling a book out of my bag and telling them where they can buy a copy.

--
Featured e-Book: The Sculptor's Muse
Previous Page    12345...    Next Page