Idiots on the Internet
I stole this comment from Scott Eagan’s blog. The guy posted anonymously, or I would attribute his name with pleasure, so that when you see him, you might give him a tender pat on the noggin. Thereby encouraging brains to fly in.
He’s complaining about agents here:
“The next big cruncher would be the new demand that a writer must have completed an entire book before an agent will speak to them. NOT agree to rep it, just speak with them. I won’t go on and on about this again, only repeat the obvious. No one has time to write book after book hoping one might catch on over the course of a lifetime.”
He’s not exceptional, unfortunately. He’s part of the “why should I have to do anything to prove how good I am?” wanna be authors who just drive me absolutely fur-ball nuts.
Those of us who want to be published have written scores of books. I wrote four before my first three were sold. Can we count the other ones since then? There’s the fascinating tale of a Duke set in the present day, and the blind archeologist who loves him and foils a plot to assassinate him. Didn’t go anywhere. Or the story of a woman working as an exotic dancer who falls in love with a man who insists on putting her in protective custody (written long before “that sort of book” was popular). Didn’t go anywhere. Or the book about the woman who catches a murderer in her own neighborhood. Didn’t go anywhere. I have about seven books that haven’t gone anywhere. Yep, I wrote book after book hoping one might catch on over the course of a lifetime.
Guess what? I learned with each book. I became a better writer with each book. And maybe that’s why writing book after book is so important.
Bugs Bunny said it best – what a maroon.
You know, that type of attitude is pervasive in every field. I am a fiber artist/rug hooker. I’ve been at it for over three years, and can’t tell you how many rugs I hooked before someone really took notice…ie, bought a rug.. I have a friend that desperately wants to hook, but gets about halfway through, pronounces it “crap” and complains that she’ll never hook as well as I do. *Well yeah* (sarcastic comment that went right over her head)….she’s only hooked for a few months, but wants the wool fairy to wave a wand to make her better. Many people don’t want to do the work that goes into improving any talent they may have.
PS-I received a copy of your book and a very cool mug after winning it on http://jennifersrandommusings.wordpress.com/ and wanted to say a huge thank you!
You are quite welcome!
Love the Wool Fairy. Maybe there’s a Writing Fairy as well, and they’re sisters.
That is kind of a common attitude with teaching writing to kids. They think that they need only write a paper one time and it should be good enough. We spent half a year on one project paper that kids had to rewrite and edit three times, some kids needed to do it more than that to get to be where it needed to be. I even had to listen with the teacher to parents complain that we were stressing their kids out. And yet these were the same parents who couldn’t write a comprehensive note as to why their kids were out of school. Writing is a process and the process only improves with practice.
(PS that is why I am playing here and not writing to meet my writing goal today, got to get back to work (wink, wink)) .
My agent has the greatest comment – and one I’ve repeated endlessly. “There’s no such thing as a writing prodigy.” And she’s right. You learn with every book, with every word.