| Mood: pondering |
| Music: No Doubt |
Today over in my blog hopping, which isn't hopping much at all really because I use Sharp reader to feed me all the RSS feeds from blogs I read. Makes things easier and a bit less time consuming. Today I read a post over in Beth's blog, in which she discusses a post that was made over at Book angst. I made my way over to see what was happening, and some of the comments left in response to the post made me raise an eyebrow. One author, Darlene Ryan, posted a happy report about her own writing. This opened her up to comments about she was a hobbyist, and not a writer. She even said she wasn't making enough to support her family, but it was just her she could live fine on what she earned.
This post and its comments started to make me ponder. The publishing industry isn't the easiest business to get going in. For a beginning writer, it is hard to just come out swinging with the first book and hit the best seller list. Yes, it is has happened, but for most writer's, it is a hard process. It is also a lot of hurry up and then wait. You might write a story, submit it, and then have to wait months and months to hear back from the publication about the submission.
As a writer, I think you have to start somewhere. You have to submit. You have to sell, and hopefully the more you write the more you will sell. It just seems there is this difference of opinion between writers on what makes a writer. Then you also have the difference between writer and author. Anyone can writer, but what makes a writer an author? Some say that selling your work makes the difference between the two. Some might even say you're really an author until you've sold a book. Now you even have the difference between e-books and print books to factor in. Things keep changing so quickly, and in the future there is even a chance that paper books might become obsolete because e-books are so much easier. I happen to like reading paper books though. I like being able to hold a book in my hands.
Yes, I'm a writer, and no this isn't just a hobby for me. I want to see myself make a living from this someday. I'm not there yet, but I know in time I will be. I have also been called a hobbyist in the past. And yes, I am taking the longer road to publication. I've only started working seriously on my writing again in the last eight months or so. I know if I had kept up what I started a few years ago, I probably would have been farther along by now than I am. This isn't something that is going to happen overnight. Writing is one of the hardest businesses. It is something I enjoy doing. I enjoy writing. I enjoy putting words together. I enjoy creating characters and writing articles. The fact I enjoy what I do doesn't make this a hobby. Not for me, and not for anyone. With time and hard work, it will happen. It just isn't going to happen right now. We just have to wait for that ship to come in.
5 comments:
One day at a time. Keep plugging. That's how it happens!
Exactly. I guess it just gets to me still that some call writer's hobbyist just because they aren't making hundreds of thousands or millions. It takes time for that to happen, if it ever does happen. Some are happy making enough to live off comfortably. I know I would be.
I LOVE the sunflowers! Excellent.
And as far as the hoopla, those haters can get stuffed. Heh
I would use more descriptive words, but I'm trying to be PC.
It's what we love. And that's it.
Grins*
First of all, love the new look. Sunflowers are my fave flower.
As for becoming a writer taking time, as long as you're in the arts (music, art, literature, etc.), your ship won't come in right away. You must learn your craft and work at it - hard.
Sometimes you won't even make it in your lifetime. So know that the join you get from what you do is a personal thing. It can be shared, true. But it won't always be appreciated.
Thanks to everyone on the compliments for the new look!
This business takes time. I write because I love it, but I also wanted to one day make a living from my writing. It just takes a bit of time to do that.
Fiftytwo, most of my nonfiction is published online, and some might say that is what makes me a hobbyist. I really hate the term, and as you can see I get a bit vocal when the whole writer vs. hobbyist debate comes up.
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