Seriously. I'd love to hear your personal writerly pet peeves. I might even use them in a future cartoon. Full credit, of course. This one is dedicated to all those awkward career-related conversations with strangers in social situations...
Being asked things like, "why didn't you write..." and fill in the blank. "Why didn't you write it with a male main character? Why didn't you write about WWI? Why didn't you write about... etc. etc., followed closely by, "Why don't you write..."
Prescriptive suggestions. Ugh.
This defending traditional publishing against self-publishing, when there's room for them both is also QUEL annoying.
On the day you finish your epic novel about surfing dinosaurs on Mars, you find an announcement for Much More Famous Author's upcoming book, "T. Rex Catchin' Waves on Neptune!" And realize that not only will people think you copied, but that Neptune was a better choice for a planet.
For a while I explained that writing was a bit like acting, not much work and even less lucrative work, and that I was something like those guys that you sort of recognize because they've been in 50 or 100 movies/TV shows you've seen: started off as the rookie cop, moved up to the cabbie and the bartender, now I'm the grouchy old neighbor or the ER doctor that patches up the hero, but never been a leading man or even a major supporting player (which is what bestsellerdom is equivalent to). So "I'm like the guys who make enough to live on but do a lot of local commercials and industrial training films, and I've been around the stars but they probably don't remember me, but the people who hire do". This does seem to help place me on the spectrum for people, but unfortunately it also leads to people trying to help me get a more positive attitude because, after all, I just need to get "discovered."
John: Aaggghhh! That IS a major peeve. Funny thing--I know a woman, an actress, who always called herself "the queen of the one-liners" because she had so many one-line roles in TV, movies, etc. She's kind of elderly now, and it's funny because she keeps popping up here and there as the Random Old Woman, STILL! (In fact, if you look at her picture you may even recognize her: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114390/). I'm kind of in awe, actually. If I could be the writerly equivalent of that, it wouldn't be so bad...
5 comments:
Being asked things like, "why didn't you write..." and fill in the blank. "Why didn't you write it with a male main character? Why didn't you write about WWI? Why didn't you write about... etc. etc., followed closely by, "Why don't you write..."
Prescriptive suggestions. Ugh.
This defending traditional publishing against self-publishing, when there's room for them both is also QUEL annoying.
Pet peeve:
On the day you finish your epic novel about surfing dinosaurs on Mars, you find an announcement for Much More Famous Author's upcoming book, "T. Rex Catchin' Waves on Neptune!"
And realize that not only will people think you copied, but that Neptune was a better choice for a planet.
Those are all awesome suggestions! :D
For a while I explained that writing was a bit like acting, not much work and even less lucrative work, and that I was something like those guys that you sort of recognize because they've been in 50 or 100 movies/TV shows you've seen: started off as the rookie cop, moved up to the cabbie and the bartender, now I'm the grouchy old neighbor or the ER doctor that patches up the hero, but never been a leading man or even a major supporting player (which is what bestsellerdom is equivalent to). So "I'm like the guys who make enough to live on but do a lot of local commercials and industrial training films, and I've been around the stars but they probably don't remember me, but the people who hire do". This does seem to help place me on the spectrum for people, but unfortunately it also leads to people trying to help me get a more positive attitude because, after all, I just need to get "discovered."
John: Aaggghhh! That IS a major peeve. Funny thing--I know a woman, an actress, who always called herself "the queen of the one-liners" because she had so many one-line roles in TV, movies, etc. She's kind of elderly now, and it's funny because she keeps popping up here and there as the Random Old Woman, STILL! (In fact, if you look at her picture you may even recognize her: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114390/). I'm kind of in awe, actually. If I could be the writerly equivalent of that, it wouldn't be so bad...
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