Who was that guy in mythology - the one who had to keep pushing that rock up the mountain, only to have it roll back down to the bottom again, forcing him to start over for eternity?
Sisyphus, yeah, that guy.
Sometimes writing feels like that. Well maybe not writing, exactly, but the act of trying/hoping/struggling/failing/trying to get published, does. It ain't easy, we know that. And frankly if it were, we'd be less inclined to try and do it. That's plain and simple human fact. Not only do we strive to do something, we'll complain that it's awfully hard, that all the cards are stacked against us and that there's really no hope at all - but we know that once we get there, we'll have joined a somewhat elite group and be glad for the fact that, in all honesty, monkey's really can't do this.
No matter how many typewriters you give them.
Would we want it any other way? No, not really. Well, maybe, sure. Yeah.
No.
What we really mean to say is, we want it to hurry up and happen to US, so we can say we finally made it. Like climbing a mountain - for those of us in not-such-great-shape, we'd love to say we climbed that mountain if we could somehow skip all the hard bits where sweat, hard work and some vomiting might occur. Then we'd belong to that knee-toe group of people who can climb mountains. As if that will lend us the respect we've always dreamed of having. (which is an entire blog-post in and of itself, one of these days) ie: Yes, I'm nuts.
I was going to rant in this post about all the cards that are stacked up against us as would-be published writers. The agencies who barely have time to read sentence #1 of your query, let alone a page or three of your manuscript. The big-name publishers who join up with Vanity publishing companies to gain kick-backs of the writers they reject (I'll let bigger brains explain this one - click my linkie-poo to Writer Beware for details). The endless waits of 6-12 months to hear back from partials, knowing that after such a long wait, it's still more than likely going to be a No.
It's bad enough most of us are writing these novels in our spare time - somewhere between the day job that pays the bills, the family, the obligations, the need for food and sleep (if not exercise) and the demands of friends/family/SO's who have no respect or understanding of what you're trying so hard to do.
Oh look, it did just become a rant about how hard this is.
Still, I'm betting there isn't one single one of "us" who made it then looked back thinking "if only it were easier for everyone else." Nah. You don't win Gold in the Olympics and think to yourself "if only it were easier for everyone to win a Gold." What good would your Gold be then? Would it thrill you as much to see your book published, if everyone on your street, in your town, in your entire family - had the same thing happen? Would it matter that your novel was high quality fiction, and everyone else's were rambling incoherent shopping lists?
Would you feel pride, or accomplishment, if you'd just done something that apparently anyone can do?
Which will bring me to the next post later this week: Just who are you trying to impress?
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4 comments:
You're not wrong: writing is extremely hard. In fact I think it's the hardest thing I've ever undertaken. But there's definitely a lot of satisfaction to be had too. Finishing that first draft is always a thrill. Ditto getting it to the point where you're not ashamed to show it to others.
*scratches head* Damn it, I lost my train of thought.
Oh yeah. I get extremely frustrated when I see people who want writing to be easy, and they think they're going to make a zillion buckaroos right out of the gate. When I see those types, I want it to be even harder for them. Is that mean? :D
If that's mean, then call me a bee-atch, sista! I want people to know how hard this is (especially when I finally make it). Right now they all think anyone can do it - you just pays your money and publish your book! Gah.
Actually, I think the writing is the easy part.
The hard part is getting some bloody agent to read your stuff.
The writing is definitely the easy part ! Hell, I've been churning out novels for years. It's the getting an agent to READ one, and like it, that reminds me so much of those Greek tragedies!
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