Comments on: Are you ready for some tough love?

By: necrotic Ed

necrotic Ed — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:26:15 +0000

being a writer isn’t about acceptance.
i’m going to use the royal “we” here (fair warning).
When we write we must.
If we want to be read we must don a different hat altogether and submit to the marketplace.
If the dream is about being a recognized author…
that’s ego. Yes? the truth/Truth about writing for me and many closeted friends is simple – we write because it staves off the madness and depression which only creeps in if I’m not Writing.
btw/ luv the forum!
necrotic Ed

By: Anthony Rotolo

Anthony Rotolo — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:56:30 +0000

“Failing Forward” is the phrase I remind myself of. Writers, entrepreneurs, anyone with high creative stakes must come to accept that failing is okay, as long as you don’t give up. In that sense, it’s not failure, it’s progress. Edison didn’t consider all the exploded light bulbs around his feet as failures, but as all the ways he learned how NOT to make a light bulb.

By: Published Author Or Bust! » THE PLAN

Published Author Or Bust! » THE PLAN — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:18:15 +0000

[...] Mur Lafferty recently pointed out, there’s a very good chance this book sucks. Which means publishers won’t want the second and [...]

By: Phronk

Phronk — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:59:33 +0000

Another amen!

If the dream of writing is so easily destroyed after one failure, then maybe it wasn’t such a strong dream to begin with. I think someone with a passion for writing will keep writing whether it’s published or not, or even whether it’s good or not.

The fact is that there ARE people who started out unpublishable and ended up writing for a living, doing a job that doesn’t even feel like work. We can’t all end up like that, but we’ll never know if we’re one of those people or not until we persistently give it a try.

By: Jim Breslin

Jim Breslin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:51:58 +0000

This is a great line –

The difference between published writers and unpublished writers is not talent. It’s persistence.

Thanks,

By: W. S.

W. S. — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:34:36 +0000

Wow! Great post. I would like to add that its true for any writing-magazine articles, non-fiction. Just because a magazine liked your first article they may hate your second one. I have seen many potential writers throw tantrums when something like that happens. I just move on to the next one and keep smiling:)

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:24:47 +0000

I agree 100%. The Nano novel I wrote ended up to be total crap but it taught me so many lessons about persistance, the importance of writing everyday, how to outline, what works for me and what doesn’t, etc. I just posted a video on my blog about persistance from Ray Bradbury.

I love your blog and podcast, Mur.

By: ginabad

ginabad — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:02:32 +0000

Great stuff, Mur. Took me way too long to learn this. Finally editing my first novel, if it fails, I’ve got the next idea and the next. If it stinks, it’s MY FIRST, and I can let it go or make it better because no one is BORN an great writer.

I’m working on the making it better now. Learned all of this from a year of listening to your show and almost all the archive. Thank YOU.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:57:22 +0000

True dat/

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:45:35 +0000

As has already been said, amen. I dare someone to make me stop writing!

For me, a dream can’t just be something I work for in the future. It has to be something that is rewarding now. If I only love writing when I’m published, then I don’t really love writing, I love recognition and money. There’s a big difference between loving to write and seeking recognition through writing.

If I love writing, then I write, and it makes me happy. Being published is great, don’t get me wrong, but I write either way. I want to test myself and measure myself and become a better writer – but because I love to do it, not because I need to measure up and get a paycheck for it.

Bring on the tough love. It needs to be said.