“In case you couldn’t tell from what I’ve said up to now, traditional education was not a productive or nurturing experience for me, and while I wasn’t a total goof off, I just “wasn’t” the addemic many high achievers are.”

Sorry about that!

Taurean

Anyway, this is the first of the posts I’ve read, and I can relate to much of what was said here.

It’s something I’ve grappled with for a long time, and even though I know I love writing, especially when it’s NOT those Godforsaken query letters that make me feel like a foolish hack, but few writers I’ve shared my stories to say they’re as boring and broken as my query letters often are, and trust me, they weren’t lying to spare my feelings, since as much they may like what I’ve written, there’s always a laundry list of things I didn’t do or need to better but don’t know how.

As narrow, selfish and insincere as this sounds, writing’s one of few things I’ve ever been good at, and unlike quitting things too easily as a kid, I promised myself I’d never give in that easily ever again.

Sometimes I wonder why the few other non-writing related things I love are no less easier to build a career out of. I love cooking and baking about as much as I do writing, but I’m not cut for the fast-pace environment that comes with working in a restaurant, I can’t rush and be as through and efficient as I’d need to be, and no, working in fast food is not my idea of culinary ecstasy, so I’m better off a home cook.

That said, I would like to find out if I could be a baker and open my own retail artisan bakery. I’m an early riser most of the time, and I know bakers start their days early to get things fresh for the days customers, but I need to learn more than I know now, and to go into business for myself requires money, skills, and expertise I don’t have now, despite people urging me to do it now.

I put in the time and effort to hone my writing every day, and even during the hard times when reading one more article about query letters, books I couldn’t write well enough, books I was too afraid to attempt, writers debuting with books about things I’d never pull off, and frankly some of it I wouldn’t want to.

This is why I’ve always felt torn in this regard.

In case you couldn’t tell from what I’ve said up to now, traditional education was not a productive or nurturing experience for me, and while I wasn’t a total goof off, I just was the addemic many high achievers are,

I’d still write even I never got published or make any money from it, but that doesn’t change the fact I do want to get published, and I don’t think that means I want to “Sell out” or that I’m a seeking instant fame and fortune, which certainly doesn’t happen to everyone, and rarer still does it happen instantly.

I guess all I’m really trying to say is, I wish I knew of something I love almost as much as writing, but doesn’t require 4 degrees and decades of training to be, and pays more than pennies a day.

Anyway, thanks for posting this, I did find it inspiring, and yet it makes me wonder if I really have the innate passion to be a novelist. I honestly believe I do, but I’d be lying if I said making money wasn’t a factor at all, but it’s like I’m jack of trades.

Sorry if I got too whiny or weird, I’m sorting out a lot of things in my life now.

My own writing for love story is writing The Job Search Central blog for The New York Public Library. I was there for a little over year and blogged for about ten of the months I spent there, and after about the third entry, I started getting clients showing up for career counseling just because they wanted to meet me. I still get the warm fuzzies when I think about it =)

The people who get the most upset when they’re rejected by publishers or agents are those who love their own work. They love the process. They love the characters. And they absolutely do not understand why others don’t share that love.

Hundreds of thousands of people commit their words to the page. Some, of course, do it because they think it’s an “easy” way to get rich quick, but that expectation will die quickly when exposed to real life. The others, the ones who toil for decades because they tune out the voices telling them that they don’t have the necessary tools to create a story that others can enjoy (or in some cases even understand) do it because they believe in what they’re writing.

Vanity presses feed on the dreams of those who love their own words, who have bled their own souls on the page in the hopes that their own stories can touch a stranger’s life or help someone through a struggle. Love is a starting point, but it’s not the only factor.