dont get enough respect? it is even thought that EVERYONE can write, whats the difference, blablabla...........Its all very discouraging for an aspiring writer like myself.
Probably because a lot of people want to be writers, but very few finish and publish. So people are very skeptical, but actually when a person is published I think they get a lot of admiration and even adulation.
Well, from what I understand people think that writers have it easy. I'm mean what do they do besides sleep in and write for an hour a day. It's such an easy job. They should get a real job. LoL...we from what I have experianced as a writer (starting out) it's not that easy. Not that easy at all. Unforturnatly this is what most people think though.
It's not easy. Try writing a novel, try thinking of an original concept, try to get your name out there, try to get publishers to look at your work. it sucks, but we do it because we love it. It's like a great man once said "There's nothing scarier to a writer than looking at a blank page knowing they have to fill it up."
well, its good to know i am not too strange for getting nautious looking at the tremedous task before me.....
I think people complain about writers because they do not possess the ability to write as well and creative as writers do. There's this quote I read somewhere that comes to mind about a writer's fame: "The best fame is a writer's fame because it enables you to get a good table at a restaurant and not have to deal with all the flashes and questions."
i think everyone can write, but the way in which you can write....not everyone can creativly express through writing.
so many people laugh when i say i go to school to study creative writing. they're just like, "soo do you like sit and write stuff all day?" people find it hard to believe that there's more to it than writing. of course i'd love to be published, the same way any artist would love to be famous, but if i'm not successful, i won't be quitting any time soon.
Writing is great, but I think more attention needs to be paid to getting published as a skill in itself. That's what separates creative writing from theraphy or journalling... Courses on writing, to my mind, should include market researching, submission format etc. It is quite easy to get low-paying publications and no reason to wait rather than jump right in!
I agree that there are a lot of misperceptions about writers and journalists, but I think just like everything else you have to earn the respect. It depends on your circle too. Generally, I think in the adult world writers are "respected"- more so than a lot of crappy jobs.
one thing you learn as a reporter is that most people who think they write clearly do not. Look at the non-bylined stories in your local paper. slow, dry, rah-rah? just bad? A wannabe penned it. And some get paid for it. Communication is not well valued, even in the media. I hope to finish my dyeing book soon so I can go on to fiction again, but I spend eight hours a day writing news. It gets difficult to force the work ethic for a book during the week. How do you keep focus?
I think people don't take writers seriously if they aren't published. They see it as a hobby we must not be good at if our projects live their lives in drawers. They see it's value when a publisher does. Publication is proof to them that what we do is valuable, and only then is what we do validated to the skeptic.
