tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post1739665365882554428..comments2024-03-18T09:09:59.625-04:00Comments on Janet Reid, Literary Agent: Query Question: fear of others reading your workJanet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-60488095129801486412015-01-04T19:21:22.781-05:002015-01-04T19:21:22.781-05:00I have a saying stuck next to my computer:
The mo...I have a saying stuck next to my computer:<br /><br />The most painful thing to experience is not defeat but regret.<br /><br />Don't let the thought of people reading your work defeat you!AJ Blythehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04529233142099749005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-68243268845683651222015-01-04T16:57:26.425-05:002015-01-04T16:57:26.425-05:00SO strongly advise you to first read "The Two...SO strongly advise you to first read "The Two Parts of Brave", Janet Reids post from November 08, 2007, if you haven't already.<br /><br />An excerpt -<br /><br />"And here's where the second part of bravery comes in.<br />You don't collapse into tears.<br />You don't give up.<br />You go home and you look at those notes and you remember that you want to write, and you want to be published and no one, not even a snotty New York agent dressed in black is going to stand in your way.<br />You start in again.<br /><br /><br />You are one of the bravest people I've ever seen. Even if no one else ever knows it, you do. And don't forget for even one minute that I know it too.<br /><br />Now get back to work."<br /><br />From someone who is still learning, I would strongly suggest you keep reading this blog to overcome your fear. The advice, encouragement, and knowledge here is what keeps this Timber Cruiser on task to pursuing her first love - Writing. Learning about the process of publishing way before I am ready to have anything published is what has kept me on task. Last year I finally found a small group of Beta readers who know how to dissect a piece without destroying the person who wrote it - this is an important trait to have as a Beta reader. Im even more happy to say I have found an editor who has a Masters in Library Science and is willing to process my work without huge costs - I have confidence in my work now as its not as "raw" as it could be. And even though I already have been through college and then some, I am signed up for yet another basic Grammar & Punctuation online class through a University so that I can be a work in progress myself. <br /><br />My confidence in working in Forestry (working vast miles of forest!) for decades comes from being prepared. Having confidence for someone else to read my fictional work is also from the same concept - being prepared. You have a great start just by reading Janet Reid's words, as I have found her knowledge online to be one of the best in the Field. <br /><br />Best wishes to you and your writing!Janice Grinyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14363741660626407979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-67605688863220582702015-01-04T13:31:24.351-05:002015-01-04T13:31:24.351-05:00The comment likening this fear to stage fright str...The comment likening this fear to stage fright struck a chord with me. I did a lot of amateur theater once, and a very talented friend explained that it's all about attitude. Some people get on stage and are horrified, even if they're "third spear carrier from the left." They're thinking, "Oh no! Someone might look at me!" He always turned it around, walking out there and saying to himself, "I'm going to MAKE them look at me." There's a story, probably apocryphal but still illuminating, that when Olivier arrived at the theater before a show he'd go out on stage, stair at all the empty seats, and say to himself, "You people are going to see a better performance than you deserve!"<br /><br />John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17120550659339089195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-68342350315799575632015-01-04T13:22:22.699-05:002015-01-04T13:22:22.699-05:00Dena, that happened to my blog when LeVar Burton r...Dena, that happened to my blog when LeVar Burton retweeted a link to his Reading Rainbow reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas last year; fun! I know Janet's been to my blog for Gossamer and Penelope pics, and laughed at at least one other post; she is a generous woman - who, yes, appears to be the most amazing time manager in the history of the world.<br /><br />Hey, the Queen of the Known Universe doesn't aspire to her throne without reason. I'd hoist her on a buckler for the role!DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-69673545703331928692015-01-04T08:14:27.258-05:002015-01-04T08:14:27.258-05:00Stephen King once wrote an article (and stupid me ...Stephen King once wrote an article (and stupid me didn't save it, and now I can't find it again) wherein he suggested that you show your stuff to 10 people. If any cluster of them agrees on a point, pay attention. Everything else, you're free to ignore. My experience has borne this out. The most frustrating and painful thing I've found about both being critiqued and publishing is that EVERY SINGLE READER will have a different take on your work. It's stunning, sometimes, how far off their reaction or interpretation is from what you intended! So, as others have mentioned, the only way to survive being read is to focus on the work as a craft. Writing is both an art and a craft, and we all must learn its various steps and techniques. What we share is the compulsion to create it and desire for an appreciative audience. Half the battle is finding that appreciative audience. Unless you compose something of universal appeal, you will have to find your audience. Then the appreciation will flow. Until then, lots of bumps and hurts. Entering the arena with this understanding makes the process a lot easier, and you can build up calluses faster.Carolyn Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12439194025687389191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-37208478348866024602015-01-04T08:10:03.155-05:002015-01-04T08:10:03.155-05:00A wealth of fantastic advice here already! I just ...A wealth of fantastic advice here already! I just wanted to add that I feel your pain. I'm a people-pleaser and Type-A so I find it very difficult to open emails that contain feedback. But I've been working at it for several years now and the thing that gets me through (apart from my burning desire to write and get my stories out there) is keeping an envelope of printouts of all the complimentary feedback, words of love, and support for my writing, whether it's a tweet that really boosted me, or feedback from a crit partner, or feedback from a class or forum responder. When I get those harsh reactions and even the occasional, "I hated this" (which as someone pointed out, is inevitable), I read through the positives and remind myself that some do enjoy and even love what I've written. It's really helped me, even just knowing that envelope is there :) Cheyennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17890805854685375778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-22509680130553396282015-01-04T00:13:07.498-05:002015-01-04T00:13:07.498-05:00OMG Janet! I've had more hits in the last 12 ...OMG Janet! I've had more hits in the last 12 hours than I've had in the entire life of the blog until now! Is this my 15 minutes of fame? I was hoping for that on release day. I hope you haven't jinxed it :)<br /><br />I guess I need to learn how to update my blog with more stuff. It took me hours just to figure out what I've got so far.<br /><br />DLM - My oldest son is in the Navy. I have several military-type things I need to learn to add. I cried when I read Tank the Dog also.<br />Dena Pawlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14444683810125395220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-86500902737041369892015-01-03T20:59:14.229-05:002015-01-03T20:59:14.229-05:00Dena's blog is funny, but hit that link to Tan...Dena's blog is funny, but hit that link to Tank the Dog at your peril. I'm still weeping.DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-28609934906657567732015-01-03T20:25:22.054-05:002015-01-03T20:25:22.054-05:00Gotta tell ya, some of the posts on Dena Pawling&#...Gotta tell ya, some of the posts on <a href="http://denapawling.blogspot.com/2014/10/small-claims-trials-can-be-head-shakers.html" rel="nofollow">Dena Pawling's blog</a> are REALLY hilarious <br><br /><br><br /><br>Janet Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-29200218104614511482015-01-03T19:27:44.327-05:002015-01-03T19:27:44.327-05:00As a writer (and brand new attorney), I'm with...As a writer (and brand new attorney), I'm with Dena on this one. Keep your eye on the bottom line. It's your life raft when the whirlpool of sharks appear. Sure, the bottom line is tough to reach. You might get a few chunks taken out of you along the way. But that's what the life buoys are for. AKA set little goals along the way and make sure you've got someone on standby ready to drag you to safety. <br /><br />Every time you successfully complete a little goal you build up your own confidence. Every time you fail it's your rescue team that will keep you from drowning, build up your confidence, and knock you back into the water if your confidence turns to arrogance.Megan Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752842865397799428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-33694166398403956012015-01-03T18:42:15.913-05:002015-01-03T18:42:15.913-05:00Hi Julie - I'm in Southern California. If you...Hi Julie - I'm in Southern California. If you watched the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, you might remember Bob Eubanks saying it was 36 degrees in Pasadena. For those of us in Southern California, that is COLD. [Yes, we're babies when it comes to weather.] During that cold snap, we had a few inches of snow at lower elevations [meaning where it never snows] and the police had to rescue 130+ motorists from the highways.<br /><br />When I started law school, my family and friends thought I was nuts. I'm not the in-your-face kind of person, aka shark. I hated confrontation, I wanted can't-we-all-just-get-along. I thought I'd get some job reviewing documents or drafting wills or something like that.<br /><br />So to give myself a taste of court, since I'd never be caught dead in one, I took a trial practice class, and in my last semester I asked a Public Defender friend of mine if I could clerk in her office for a semester.<br /><br />I loved it.<br /><br />So when the great state of California committed insanity and issued me a license, my first job was making court appearances for attorneys who didn't have time to go to court. That morphed into a job where I'm in court making a fool of myself in trial most mornings, and in the office making a fool of myself drafting briefs in the afternoon.<br /><br />I still love it.<br /><br />Currently my practice is 75% foreclosures and evictions. One of my colleagues, when asked what he does for a living, says “I make homeless people.” It's not as glamorous as Public Defender/criminal law, but it gets me in court every day. Eviction court is home to some of the funniest [and sometimes the saddest] stuff. Like Dave Barry says, “I am not making this up.” I write about it on my blog, and my current WIP includes some of the antics I've endured, and caused, in court.<br /><br />You don't have to move here and buy investment property so you can hire me to evict your deadbeat tenants. WHEN my book is published [I'm thinking positive] in about two years or so, you can just buy a copy, leave an honest review, and tell a friend. That'll be enough for me :)<br />Dena Pawlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14444683810125395220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-59638635753667568182015-01-03T18:28:41.659-05:002015-01-03T18:28:41.659-05:00All of the above advice is great for helping to gr...All of the above advice is great for helping to grow that necessary thick skin all performers and artists need.<br /><br />Fear of having someone read your work is basically the same as stage fright. You want the audience to love your performance (you) and you're terrified they won't. You're not good enough. You'll never be good enough. You might as well pack up and go home.<br /><br />What helps me is realizing that nothing I write is perfect, and drafts are far less perfect than polished work. Also, what I think is polished usually isn't half as shiny as I believe.<br /><br />Sometimes when I watch a dance routine in an old Fred Astaire movie, I can see the scuff marks on the floor from all the dozens of times he practiced that particular number. If ol' Fred didn't think his work was perfect the first 30 times, why should I think mine is?<br /><br />The other issue (besides perfection) is work. Pulling even one draft out of my psyche is exhausting. I don't know how I can do it more than once. A (large) part of me wants to believe it's fine the way it is so that I won't HAVE to do it again. I don't want another person to read it and pop that little bubble, because then I'll have to go back and fix it.<br /><br />So ask yourself, is it really fear of rejection that makes you hesitate to expose your writing, or is it fear of the work it will take to improve? I honestly think fear of the work is why a lot of people give up. It just seems too damn hard to do what it takes to get better.<br /><br />Back to Fred. Ginger Rogers once commented about them practicing until her feet bled. I keep that in mind whenever I think writing is hard. Criticism hurts, but at least it doesn't make you bleed.Elissa Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10727748060605823895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-38735023827552450682015-01-03T18:06:30.207-05:002015-01-03T18:06:30.207-05:00I thought of one other thing to focus on - the per...I thought of one other thing to focus on - the person you DREAM of reading your book. That someone you will never meet, perhaps many years down the road, who will fall in love and for whom your story will have the deepest meaning.<br /><br />For me, that's a kid at some great-aunt's house, no WiFi available, glumly perusing her dusty bookshelves, who picks up The Ax and the Vase and reads it again and again for the next forty years. Who learns about Frankish history, or becomes the professor dispelling notions about Merovingian heresies, or who just comes to love histfic in much the same way I did. Who falls in love a little with someone else because they read this obscure book he or she loves.<br /><br />THAT is a reader who doesn't make me vulnerable: but is my very reason for writing. And why else do we do this but to be storytellers?<br /><br />Indulge the fantasy of who will love you, maybe even why - the same reasons you loved your own story, had to tell it. It's the point of all this in the end.DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-26174918479743345772015-01-03T17:08:10.736-05:002015-01-03T17:08:10.736-05:00If you are horrified at the thought of a beta read...If you are horrified at the thought of a beta reader or agent looking at your work (I used to flush with humiliation if anybody GLANCED at my open Word doc), then you are not ready for it to be published and in the hands of the public! So pay attention to the good advice above and work on growing a thick skin first.<br /><br />I love that there are many avenues to publication, but it almost seems like getting in *too* quickly deprives authors of skin-thickening years of rejection. I believe this is partly why I see more author meltdowns in the self-pub realm. Some folks go in with a level head and a career plan. Others nervously release their first, un-critiqued baby into the wild and then discover they can't handle a bad review. (Plenty of house-published authors also lose their cool in the Twitter and blog realms, too, so the process isn't foolproof!)Sam Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12069749673374661798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-66713276951316975392015-01-03T16:24:54.386-05:002015-01-03T16:24:54.386-05:00you're exactly right, jet. it's like jumpi...you're exactly right, jet. it's like jumping into a tub of ice water - that first step is a doozy, but after the initial pain & trauma, you get numb. :)Roslyn Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10177775913124826938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-9030007634223830582015-01-03T14:00:40.278-05:002015-01-03T14:00:40.278-05:00I love how Julie Weathers summed up the rejection/...I love how Julie Weathers summed up the rejection/dejection thing.<br /><br />It is key to have at least one person read your draft before it goes out to an agent or editor. Choose that person wisely--ideally it should be someone working in the same genre--and be specific about the kind of critique you are looking for.<br /><br />Writing is a long process, getting published takes even longer. It's not for the faint of heart.Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165072684559960801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-39837116416350548962015-01-03T13:44:45.836-05:002015-01-03T13:44:45.836-05:00Practice is right up there with hydrating and slee...Practice is right up there with hydrating and sleeping enough when it comes to making everything better. <br /><br />I think the most insecure time is not when you're exposing your ideas, but when you are not sure of the voice you're using to do it. Finding your voice, even if you open a journal every day and tell it what happened on the way to work, can make you as easy to read as you are to listen to. <br /><br />But in the meantime, I would offer that the more you think of your writing the less you will bristle at reader critique, even if you're at the other end of that correlation right now.Susan Bonifanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01140265430286280374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-40360376379589228152015-01-03T13:40:20.295-05:002015-01-03T13:40:20.295-05:00I sympathize with your anxiety. What I found helpe...I sympathize with your anxiety. What I found helped me the most was identifying the source of anxiety--why you're so nervous. For me, it revolves around plot and revision. IThe best advice I most recently received came from my first writing mentor (who I returned to after many years--go back to your roots, they're the best). She said, "You're anxious because you're not writing a plot. You're writing a succession of scenes. This happens, then that happens, then that happens--that's not a plot." That helped IMMENSELY since I felt I saw the big picture and where I was making my mistakes. <br /><br />I'm still anxious whenever I revise work. Terrified, really. In my head, it converts to whether I'm good enough. It's personal instead of objective (which would be better). <br /><br />The weirdest, but possibly most helpful, way to get out nervous energy for me is to go to hockey games. I'm dead serious. I always write infinitely better in bad weather. Plus, my geriatric team sucks right now, and yelling at the players (or our opponents) gets out so much negative energy. After every game, I'm able to write/edit for a few hours uninterrupted, and that work is almost always my best, needing the fewest revisions. Sometimes I bring my notebook to write in between periods. <br /><br />Speaking of anxiety-killing, I have 3 hours until I see our turnpike rivals decimate us. Time to pull out my Devils jersey and cough drops! writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01041732300251849601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-25522143418526436512015-01-03T13:36:03.727-05:002015-01-03T13:36:03.727-05:00Not long ago, Jo Bourne posted on the Lit Forum th...<br />Not long ago, Jo Bourne posted on the Lit Forum that she was getting a bunch of one star reviews on GoodReads. It turns out a bunch of other historical authors were getting the same reviews by the same reviewers. They were posting just enough good reviews to stay under the radar, but they were obviously troll accounts. All were news and reviewed a massive number of books in a short amount of time.<br /><br />Normally she doesn't pay much attention to negative reviews. Not everyone is going to like your book. But a flood of bad reviews in two days is a red flag. Her publisher finally convinced GoodReads to look into it and they agreed they were bogus reviews.<br /><br />Not all critiques, good or bad are genuine. You need to learn which ones are valuable and when you find a good crit partner, keep them close. <br /><br />Second, if you ask for advice, be gracious. <br /><br />I used to have one woman who critiqued my short stories and she just didn't get them. They always had a surprise, twist ending and she invariably complained that I should have explained up front that the story was taking place in Atlantis, or whatever. Well, duh, If I explained up front, it kind of ruins the whole surprise ending.<br /><br />I was always gracious to her for taking time to read and comment, but I did ease out of that group. <br /><br />I've gotten to the point I don't critique anyone I don't know. I offered some advice to someone who wanted a critique on her bit involving a horse and the piece was awful and not realistic. I tried to explain kindly why it wouldn't work and her loyal fans attacked en masse. For months after that, she linked to my blog and encouraged her minions to stop by and harass me. I had to keep deleting their very nasty remarks. I don't even remember the woman's name now, but I can't help but think that if an agent went by her blog and saw what she was doing, they wouldn't be terribly impressed.<br /><br />Bottom line, I think you just need to keep looking until your find the right support group. You definitely need to group a tough hide. Rejection is part of the journey. Dejection is a choice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-11996089046230348572015-01-03T13:20:19.246-05:002015-01-03T13:20:19.246-05:00Dena,
I want you for my lawyer. What a marvelous ...Dena,<br /><br />I want you for my lawyer. What a marvelous professor you had. I'll even consider moving to your state, depending on where you live. There are a select few states I would decline. No offense.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-69102805772903752702015-01-03T12:43:34.334-05:002015-01-03T12:43:34.334-05:00Check out the Insecure Writers Support Group at
ht...Check out the Insecure Writers Support Group at<br />http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html<br /><br />I have the opposite problem – I can't wait for other people to read my work, whether it's ready or not. My wife is my best judge, pointing out weaknesses and heaping praise on the good stuff. She's the one I trust to tell me when it's ready.John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17120550659339089195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-3998137829067800212015-01-03T12:20:20.479-05:002015-01-03T12:20:20.479-05:00I'm an attorney so stuff I write is filed with...I'm an attorney so stuff I write is filed with the court and becomes a PUBLIC document. It's so much fun – NOT – to have a judge read my stuff in open court, with all my colleagues present [we all know each other, it's a small legal community], and tell everyone it sucks. Every time opposing counsel sneers at me during oral argument, or a judge benchslaps me, I learn something new [sometimes all I learn is how to grow thicker skin]. Usually we laugh about it later.<br /><br />I've never wilted or cried in open court, a skill I thank a former law professor [who not coincidentally was also a judge] taught me a loooooong time ago when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and I was in law school. He made all of us second-year students stand in class to recite Constitutional Law cases while the other students stared at us [thankful it wasn't their turn] and he grilled us on what the cases stood for. And we had to know the names of all the justices who were on the supreme court at the time the case was decided, which president appointed them, their political persuasion, etc. Then we had to recite our opinion on how the CURRENT supreme court would have decided the same case, and why. We stood on shaky legs and did our best. I did fight back tears in this class the very first time I was called to stand and recite. After about the fourth recitation, I was actually able to [nervously] argue back with the judge/professor.<br /><br />But then and now, I keep my eye on the bottom line. If I win the argument, I don't care how much it sucked to get there. And about 85% of the time, I win. Sometimes I know I'll lose, because some cases you just lose, and my goal in that argument is to present something to make the judge think hard about it, and make opposing counsel nervous about losing. So even when I lose, I win :)<br /><br />Bottom line, which I've done for writing also, is to find what you consider a relatively safe environment [my husband's first comment over a year ago when he read the first chapter of my current WIP, was “I love you, but I don't wanna read this until you fix it” so I don't recommend spouse, because you have to see that person every day], put yourself out there, and allow yourself to mess up. Send only one chapter, or a short story, to someone you trust, and give specific instructions like: 1) tell me what you LIKE first, 2) tell me if you like my MC, why or why not, and 3) tell me TWO things you didn't like, and why. You can also start by sending it to yourself and then rip yourself apart. I found a crit partner at my local writing group who's at the same stage I am, so we both feel obligated to say nice things as well as suggestions for improvement. That helps, and as you grow together and learn to trust each other, you can say things like one recent comment - “WTF happened here?” - and you don't cringe like you would have done a few months previously.<br /><br />And remember the bottom line, which presumably is that you want to be published. You'll still have folks who don't like your work, but YOU were published, so you won, and neener neener neener [technical legal term] to all those folks who said you sucked.<br />Dena Pawlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14444683810125395220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-68119825425479837912015-01-03T12:18:39.718-05:002015-01-03T12:18:39.718-05:00A recurring theme in many of these comments is, to...A recurring theme in many of these comments is, to quote a Troy McClure title, "Get Confidence, Stupid!"<br /><br />Most commenters have shared good methods of building up confidence. What worked for me, which I haven't seen expressed here so far, was reading simply others' work with a critical eye.<br /><br />DLM alluded to this as a means of handling your own critiques better--when you're critiquing, it's easier to see others aren't making personal judgments on you.<br /><br />I'll add to that by saying reading critically has made me a much better writer, which has improved my confidence exponentially. Seeing the problems in others' work helped me avoid those same problems, helped me find solutions to problems I was having, and helped me identify techniques and literary devices I really like (and those I <i>really</i> don't).<br /><br />The more you do it, the sharper and quicker your critical eye becomes, which makes it easier to make good choices in your own writing. Knowing you've made good choices helps to build confidence as much as anything else that's been mentioned. When you type "The End," even knowing it's imperfect and readers will offer valid and valuable criticism, you'll find yourself <i>wanting</i> them to read it instead of fearing them.<br /><br />This is something you don't have to find a writing group to practice. Published books, even those hailed as classics and masterpieces, warrant as much criticism as unpublished drafts. It kills a lot of birds with one stone: improving writing; boosting confidence; thickening skin; enhancing personal taste/style; reading everything you can get your hands on; broadening your knowledge of classics, bestsellers, and curiosities alike...D. B. Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14726277195370623653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-19344065837244351322015-01-03T12:10:51.949-05:002015-01-03T12:10:51.949-05:00Donnaeverhart, I was so disappointed I left a revi...Donnaeverhart, I was so disappointed I left a review on Amazon. Usually, if I don't like a book, I don't bother saying anything, but when the supposedly greats start pushing out crap, knowing us fans will buy it because it's him, I get angry. <br /><br />My apologies for not sticking with the original thread. Will shut up now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11543685541225544175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-65417698162623278082015-01-03T12:03:11.134-05:002015-01-03T12:03:11.134-05:00The ‘be brave’ post and the 53 comments are encour...The ‘be brave’ post and the 53 comments are encouraging. That was eight years ago. Posting comments to the Shark’s blogs takes courage and contacting people you search appreciation from is terrifying. You just have to do it even if you feel you will embarrass yourself. I know. Selling your creations is business; it’s not selling your emotions. Try to be level headed, it’s not always easy. Don’t contact professionals when you are having a crisis. I am guilty. Call your friends and talk about cats.<br /><br />While shopping at the market this morning I was thinking about this same question. I remembered Stephen King’s words in On Writing. I can’t remember his exactly how he put it, something like not worrying what your mother thinks. That did it for me. <br />My skin got thicker when I started waitressing and would cry when clients criticized the food or if the coffee was cold even if it would boil the skin off your thumb. Or if there wasn’t enough gin in their Martini even if there wasn’t any vermouth. I cried all the time. I cried when my application was rejected from Rutgars because I wanted to be a journalist and it was Rutgars or bust. <br /><br />I haven’t published fiction, have quit writing many times, threw three novels in the city dump.<br /><br />Julie.M.Weathers says voice, voice, voice. I agree. The writers Janet reps have awesome voices. She has an awesome voice. Once upon a time the Shark sold her first novel. I wonder what it was.<br /><br />Try W1S1 and get used to rejections. Try different crit groups, the worst are those where people just say “That’s nice.” Copy entirely word for word your favourite novel. Burn some dinners and serve them to a dinner party without excusing yourself just to see what people say. <br /> <br />All the power to you.angie Brooksby-Arcangiolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08000615140577512304noreply@blogger.com