April 18, 2008
Is it?
I must confess…
Occasionally, when I visit author’s blogs (yes, including my own), I imagine myself as a reader, rather than a sympathetic party suffering from the same affliction.
And if I were just a reader visiting these blogs, and reading about all the angst, occasional anger, frustration, waiting, blocks, barricades, struggling, etc…
I’d simply have to wonder, “Why do these people DO this? Is it really worth it?”
So now, I pose the question to you.
Is it worth it? Why, or why not?
yes, because I can’t imagine not doing it… I suppose the “for publication” part is the is it question … gaw that’s hard, but still I’d have to say yes. If it’s not challenging the payoff isn’t as grand, though this better have one hell of a payoff eventually!
Yep. Ditto what Dennie said.
BTW, segue here, but I think that’s part of the reason i end up with a whole heap O foolishness on my blog, there’s just so much navel gazing I can do, and every topic under the sun related to books/reading/publishing/writing has been covered ever which way by the bazillion other writers/agents/editors/readers out there. Sometime I just can find the wherewithal to add my one more drop to that particular bucket. And I can’t help but wonder just how *facinated* the average reader is about that stuff, too.
I actually think readers are pretty fascinated but there is a TMI factor (how much do they really want to know? Do they really want the “magic” spoiled for them. And I think they’re probably more fascinated with bestselling authors than not.
As to Raine’s question….is it worth it? Yeah it is. Don’t get me wrong…it’s tough…it’s damned tough but as they say if it was easy everyone would do it. You have to believe in yourself despite all the negativity and shit. I”m going to go blog about faith here in a minute.
Fantasy, whether we view it, hear it, read it, or create it, keeps us sane in a world gone mad. :)
“but there is a TMI factor (how much do they really want to know? Do they really want the “magic” spoiled for them.”
This is my point (did I have one? *g*) particularly on the TMI aspect, rather than the magic spoiled one. I think the _average_ reader really only wants to know so much–even with a NY bestseller–, and they they probably only want to hear it a couple of times (in their lifetime. *g*).
Zig-zagging back to Raine’s question. Every writer answers that for themself at some point, or multiple points and it’s ultimately what you’re getting (or looking to get) out of it.
Yes, it’s worth it. Because we’re writers and that’s what writers do — we write. Not because we want to, but because we have to.
Is it worth it? Most days yes, those other days are dicey.
But why is it worth it? Because when it’s the good days I’m content in knowing that I’m doing what I love the most. How many people can say that?
And when I notice that I’m depressing the hell out of my blog readers and myself I do something silly. Like the time I wrote a letter to potential agents. Or when I do my confessions of a romance author. You can only write/read so much angst.