The Writer's Society Isn't a Nice Place to Belong to... (A Rant)
by: Ray T. Scott
How often do you hear my cries for attention? How frequently have you seen my heart written in digital ink, sprawled across the interverse and urinated on by others who think they have a write to judge me on my personal experiences? Probably never. If I had a Radiohead album for every piece of work I've submitted that hasn't even seen the back-light of a literary agent's desktop I'd have their entire discography. Though you may disagree, I am not whining or complaining. I don't
Most writer's I know or know of believe they are working on the next "Fight Club" in all it's complexity and profound symbolism, and they actually believe they have a best seller on their hands (and they damn well could). But how could they know if they've been given a fair chance to truly showcase their creativity if they can't even get read? Or a decent response. They get the automated:
"Dear [insert name here], We aren't very sorry to inform you that your submitted work, [insert title here], contained a style of writing that was undisciplined. The first chapter or so seems to tally up to rambling and the piece is thoroughly amateurish writing. (Granted, this is the rejection of Jacqueline Susuann toward her book "Valley of the Dolls" which eventually went on to sell thirty million copies) You have no business being a writer, your character's lack substance and a well developed personality which is virtually unreachable to the reader. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!!"
Okay, so those seem a tad harsh. They are. But these are the sort of things the greatest authors of our lifetimes have been told, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Dr. Seuss. The writers sitting on best sellers most likely won't get this kind of a reaming since the mock rejection statement above was more of a compilation of feelings expressed toward well-known writers. However, they should expect something similar of sorts. Maybe it will be artificially sweetened. Either way, don't expect to become the next big thing.
With my initial statement of my work never being seen isn't as if I feel entitled to having my work read. I mean, I could never know what has been peaked at or not. But no one deserves the benefit of the doubt; not even agents. Not even the writer's. I don't think I deserve to be read, but it WOULD, however, be nice considering the amount of effort I put into these ninety thousand word novels. And I know agencies and publishers get thousands of submissions a day, but there is enough time in the world to be able to read each piece and give a decent word of feedback.
This may come as a surprise to some, but this -for lack of a better word- rant, is purposed to encourage all fellow writer's in the world not to give up. This is a quick shimmy of a post to tell you that The Writer's Society is not a nice place to belong to. Agent's are great people who make our worlds continue to turn but only if they read your work and even then doesn't quite stop the roller coaster of getting. Also, if you consider yourself an indie writer or amwriter, how many fellow indies have you supported? How many books of the "not yet well-known" have you actually read? You can't expect everyone to read your work though, if you can't take the time out to read someone else's work. So, with that being said, I welcome anyone and everyone who has anything they'd like to have read. I'd love to buy and read your novels or read your poems. I'd love to give you my feedback, for whatever it's worth. But don't forget . . . No matter how many times you get rejected or even passed on and your work doesn't get read at all, don't give up. Every best seller was rejected at least once before it became what it is today. And never forget to support those in need of it, it will pay off.
){kind=link}
0 Comments