Me and Dreamwidth
Apr. 19th, 2009 09:03 pmSo, thanks to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
annalee, I've got me one of these here DW accounts.
"Why?" I hear the question being asked. "You barely post anything at all on your blog."
Well, yeah. It's entirely possible that I'm going to continue posting little there. A lot of life stuff, the bits and pieces and about-me-and-the-family updates have moved to Facebook. I think just about everyone that might be really curious about my kids or my health or my plans have me friended there, and so the impulse to duplicate that kind of stuff on the blog or LJ is heavily diminished.
Otherwise, all that's left is open pontificating, and talking about my writing. The pontificating has gotten a little tiresome of late, mostly because I'm sick of dealing with hidebound partisans (mostly traditional conservatives lately, but there's one post I want to make that would probably cheese off the one hardcore Libertarian on my flist and I really just don't want to bother with his Libertarian condescension). Conversations are nice, even conversations with folks who don't agree with me provided they can be... constructive about it. I'm not really in a position to be defending any particular partisan concepts, so I hate to have my serious and (I hope) independent thoughts on the questions of the day used as partisan scratching posts for whoever thinks I'm a sockpuppet for the Other Side.
Anyway.
What that leaves is writing. And there, I find myself at an odd crossroads.
Long around November I experienced some burnout. Not with the actual creative process of writing, because I don't think there's a pastime I love more. But on the notion of trying to get published and building a career, definitely experiencing some burnout. And I'm not sure I recognized it as such, right off the bat, but I'm seeing it as such right now.
It occurred to me as I was gearing up to push to finish a novel I'd been writing last year, and using NaNoWriMo to do so. I found myself worrying over how the novel might be received, the chances I was taking with narrative and such, and if it were sold and successful, how would I follow it up? It was a silly worry, but then Matthew Jarpe announced the premature suspension of his writing career and suddenly it seemed like a very real worry, the kind of thing that I would have to worry about and should worry about and should have some kind of plan for.
If I wanted to make a career of this.
And on some level, I do want to make a career of it, in that I would like to do this thing that I love to do and get paid for it. I would love to be able to do it full time as I would then be able to mix my work and my play, to quote a song I can't attribute right now. But I'm not sure I want to play the career writer game. It seems--no, it is--a game rigged against the writer, by the fickle tastes of the readers (and thus, editors and agents), if nothing else, but also by the realities of the publishing industry and life in general and so forth. I'm not sure I want to be out before I'm done, as Jarpe seems to be, but how I accomplish that is a question that's been plaguing me for a while.
To clarify, this is not a Misunderstood Author Whinge. I am no one special, in writerly terms, and that is precisely the problem as I see it. I don't have a decent gimmick or personal hook that a publicist can hang a novel or series on. I don't write stuff that is particularly unique in its approach or tone or formulation. My prose is not arresting, and my plots are not sufficiently convoluted. This is also not a plea for sympathy, or a veiled request for affirmation, just to be clear. Just a matter of figuring out where I stand in the Great Hardcover Pecking Order.
So. What does this have to do with Dreamwidth?
Well, whatever Dreamwidth intends to be, it seems to be starting right now largely as a haven of sorts for non-traditional artists (or deeply traditional, from a fan's perspective). While I'm not into fic and other expressions of fandom myself, I'm deeply intrigued by the models of writing and publishing, and the interaction of creator and reader. So this seems like a relatively safe (and supportive?) place to spew out all my thoughts on alternatives to traditional publishing, and whether or not I can make a decent go at them. And yeah, thus a lot of this stuff won't get cross-posted. I don't feel like opening it up to the general comment of all the folks following me on LJ and in the blog, but I also don't feel like selecting a group of readers and taking it private.
So, that's not why I'm here... but it's what I plan to do now that I am. Complaints and suggestions may be registered below.
annalee, I've got me one of these here DW accounts."Why?" I hear the question being asked. "You barely post anything at all on your blog."
Well, yeah. It's entirely possible that I'm going to continue posting little there. A lot of life stuff, the bits and pieces and about-me-and-the-family updates have moved to Facebook. I think just about everyone that might be really curious about my kids or my health or my plans have me friended there, and so the impulse to duplicate that kind of stuff on the blog or LJ is heavily diminished.
Otherwise, all that's left is open pontificating, and talking about my writing. The pontificating has gotten a little tiresome of late, mostly because I'm sick of dealing with hidebound partisans (mostly traditional conservatives lately, but there's one post I want to make that would probably cheese off the one hardcore Libertarian on my flist and I really just don't want to bother with his Libertarian condescension). Conversations are nice, even conversations with folks who don't agree with me provided they can be... constructive about it. I'm not really in a position to be defending any particular partisan concepts, so I hate to have my serious and (I hope) independent thoughts on the questions of the day used as partisan scratching posts for whoever thinks I'm a sockpuppet for the Other Side.
Anyway.
What that leaves is writing. And there, I find myself at an odd crossroads.
Long around November I experienced some burnout. Not with the actual creative process of writing, because I don't think there's a pastime I love more. But on the notion of trying to get published and building a career, definitely experiencing some burnout. And I'm not sure I recognized it as such, right off the bat, but I'm seeing it as such right now.
It occurred to me as I was gearing up to push to finish a novel I'd been writing last year, and using NaNoWriMo to do so. I found myself worrying over how the novel might be received, the chances I was taking with narrative and such, and if it were sold and successful, how would I follow it up? It was a silly worry, but then Matthew Jarpe announced the premature suspension of his writing career and suddenly it seemed like a very real worry, the kind of thing that I would have to worry about and should worry about and should have some kind of plan for.
If I wanted to make a career of this.
And on some level, I do want to make a career of it, in that I would like to do this thing that I love to do and get paid for it. I would love to be able to do it full time as I would then be able to mix my work and my play, to quote a song I can't attribute right now. But I'm not sure I want to play the career writer game. It seems--no, it is--a game rigged against the writer, by the fickle tastes of the readers (and thus, editors and agents), if nothing else, but also by the realities of the publishing industry and life in general and so forth. I'm not sure I want to be out before I'm done, as Jarpe seems to be, but how I accomplish that is a question that's been plaguing me for a while.
To clarify, this is not a Misunderstood Author Whinge. I am no one special, in writerly terms, and that is precisely the problem as I see it. I don't have a decent gimmick or personal hook that a publicist can hang a novel or series on. I don't write stuff that is particularly unique in its approach or tone or formulation. My prose is not arresting, and my plots are not sufficiently convoluted. This is also not a plea for sympathy, or a veiled request for affirmation, just to be clear. Just a matter of figuring out where I stand in the Great Hardcover Pecking Order.
So. What does this have to do with Dreamwidth?
Well, whatever Dreamwidth intends to be, it seems to be starting right now largely as a haven of sorts for non-traditional artists (or deeply traditional, from a fan's perspective). While I'm not into fic and other expressions of fandom myself, I'm deeply intrigued by the models of writing and publishing, and the interaction of creator and reader. So this seems like a relatively safe (and supportive?) place to spew out all my thoughts on alternatives to traditional publishing, and whether or not I can make a decent go at them. And yeah, thus a lot of this stuff won't get cross-posted. I don't feel like opening it up to the general comment of all the folks following me on LJ and in the blog, but I also don't feel like selecting a group of readers and taking it private.
So, that's not why I'm here... but it's what I plan to do now that I am. Complaints and suggestions may be registered below.
