The other day I was talking to my daughter about my latest writing project and how I hoped to have it ready to submit soon. In her ultra honest & intuitive way she said, 'Well, don't rush it like you usually do.' The words pinged around in my head firing off all sorts of neuroses. Me? Rush things?? Do I really?
Well, yes. Too often I get caught up in the goal and the outcome instead of the process. No matter how many times I try to remind myself that it's all about the process a part of my brain barges in and says "yes but what's the outcome? what are you achieving??".
But no more! The next time I go on about achieving outcomes and setting goals I'm going to slap myself (& if you're anywhere close by feel free to join in). My next writing project is going to take 10 years. Maybe even 15 years. Quite possibly, I'll never even finish it. And whether I do or not doesn't even matter because it's all about the process.
Sure I'd love to be a successful author, with book sales in the hundreds of thousands and adoring fans poring over my every word. But let's be honest - that's probably never going to happen. And even if it did, would it make me a better writer? No, it wouldn't. Possibly, it would make me a worse writer because then I'd be even more obsessed about achievements and outcomes and book sales and my position on the writers' festival pecking order etc etc etc. I'm not saying every successful author does these things. But I probably would.
So I hereby renounce achievements and outcomes. I'll write every day that I can for as much time as I can. I'll write good sentences and bad sentences and ones in between; make fabulous word choices and ordinary word choices; write brilliant paragraphs and ones that make the reader shrug and say 'meh'. But none of those things will matter because I will be writing.
And in the end, that is all that matters.
25 July 2009
16 July 2009
Montgomery Burns outshone by the Productivity Commission
We all love to hate Montgomery Burns (okay, all except for Waylon Smithers). Mr Burns is the arch-capitalist. The epitome of greed is good. The man who stole the sun from Springfield to force them into 24-hour use of his nuclear energy.
Well, he aint got nothin' on Australia's Productivity Commission! After completely screwing with the Australian music industry a few years ago (anyone noticed CD prices go down - no? What a surprise!) they now want to destroy Australia's publishing industry.
Montogomery Burns would be proud!
The commission took in hundreds of submissions from authors, editors, independent book shop owners, readers, writing groups such as the Australian Society of Authors, publishers and printers nearly all of whom said that the lifting of parallel import restrictions on books would decimate the Australian publishing industry.
Yet according to commission's deputy chairman, Mike Woods Australian consumers are in effect 'subsidising foreign book producers'. What the???
The commission's main argument is that Australians pay too much for books & that lifting parallel import restrictions will make books cheaper. They are supported in this view by the 'Coalition for Cheaper Books' (also known as Dymocks, KMart, Target & Big W).
Apart from the fact that there is no evidence that books will be any cheaper with the lifting of restrictions (& we can look to our neighbours NZ for proof of this) do you really think we can trust Big W & Target to deliver cheaper books? Just look at how the supermarkets are managing to monopolise groceries & petrol prices.
Hopefully it's not too late. Take action now & send KRudd an email.
Well, he aint got nothin' on Australia's Productivity Commission! After completely screwing with the Australian music industry a few years ago (anyone noticed CD prices go down - no? What a surprise!) they now want to destroy Australia's publishing industry.
Montogomery Burns would be proud!
The commission took in hundreds of submissions from authors, editors, independent book shop owners, readers, writing groups such as the Australian Society of Authors, publishers and printers nearly all of whom said that the lifting of parallel import restrictions on books would decimate the Australian publishing industry.
Yet according to commission's deputy chairman, Mike Woods Australian consumers are in effect 'subsidising foreign book producers'. What the???
The commission's main argument is that Australians pay too much for books & that lifting parallel import restrictions will make books cheaper. They are supported in this view by the 'Coalition for Cheaper Books' (also known as Dymocks, KMart, Target & Big W).
Apart from the fact that there is no evidence that books will be any cheaper with the lifting of restrictions (& we can look to our neighbours NZ for proof of this) do you really think we can trust Big W & Target to deliver cheaper books? Just look at how the supermarkets are managing to monopolise groceries & petrol prices.
Hopefully it's not too late. Take action now & send KRudd an email.
11 July 2009
Goldfish dreams
This morning I dreamt I was walking with some people, carrying a large cocktail type glass filled with water that had a bright orange goldfish swimming in it. The fish was too big for the glass and kept bumping its face up against the side, its mouth gaping. I commented that the fish needed a bigger bowl, then suddenly the fish jumped right out of the glass and onto my shoulder.
I've had weirder dreams, but this one really sticks in my mind, particularly that wide mouthed goldfish. The unconscious is fond of putting puns into dream language, so the obvious ones that spring to mind are 'big fish in a small pond' and 'fish out of water'. But I think perhaps there's more to it than that.
Like many people, I struggle with my dream of earning my living as a fiction writer and my reality of working in a 9-5 job (albeit one that involves writing) to pay the bills. The dream could be about wanting to escape the confines of regular job - though a cocktail glass doesn't exactly scream '9-to-5'.
Perhaps the dream is more about broadening my horizons. I tend to see the trade publishing contract as the ultimate goal - the 'holy grail' that I'm aiming for. But maybe that goal is confining me. What if I broke out of that mould and took a rounder view of what I really want to get out of writing? What if I let that goal go completely?
It's always going to be a struggle to fit in the writing I want to do - fiction writing for kids and young adults - with the writing I'm paid to do. But perhaps I need to appreciate the fact that at least I do get to write for a living and that I do get the opportunity to help other people's stories to be told. And to really see the value in that.
I don't know that I can really let my 'ultimate' goal go. But I'm willing to let it free-float around for a while.
I've had weirder dreams, but this one really sticks in my mind, particularly that wide mouthed goldfish. The unconscious is fond of putting puns into dream language, so the obvious ones that spring to mind are 'big fish in a small pond' and 'fish out of water'. But I think perhaps there's more to it than that.
Like many people, I struggle with my dream of earning my living as a fiction writer and my reality of working in a 9-5 job (albeit one that involves writing) to pay the bills. The dream could be about wanting to escape the confines of regular job - though a cocktail glass doesn't exactly scream '9-to-5'.
Perhaps the dream is more about broadening my horizons. I tend to see the trade publishing contract as the ultimate goal - the 'holy grail' that I'm aiming for. But maybe that goal is confining me. What if I broke out of that mould and took a rounder view of what I really want to get out of writing? What if I let that goal go completely?
It's always going to be a struggle to fit in the writing I want to do - fiction writing for kids and young adults - with the writing I'm paid to do. But perhaps I need to appreciate the fact that at least I do get to write for a living and that I do get the opportunity to help other people's stories to be told. And to really see the value in that.
I don't know that I can really let my 'ultimate' goal go. But I'm willing to let it free-float around for a while.
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