It's all because I camped Steve's post. Damnit. (863 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.79 on 26 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by girlintheworld (View user info) at 2005-06-14 05:57:40 EDT
It's currently 4:30 a.m. here. I haven't gone to bed yet. I found it much more entertaining to camp on Steve's post (http://www.ubersite.com/m/68465) and talk about random shit. Is it sad that this has been the highlight of my day?
I'm 20 years old and going through one of my "omgihavenoideawhatiwanttodowithmylifeandimgoingtodie" phases. I'm working 3 jobs right now and taking summer classes, but for what? Lately, I've been seriously considering all my options. Should I seriously consider a writing career? Should I record my songs and go that route? Should I stick with a behind-the-scenes journalistic approach?
I recently started working for Borders, and I witnessed a strange event that made me start to think about these things in the first place. There was a kid, probably no older than 10, who came up to the counter to buy a toy. I'm going through the process of ringing him up and he looks at me and says, "My mom's writing a book."
"Oh really?" I ask. "What's she writing about?"
"I don't know," he says quietly. "But she's finally making money, that's for sure. But I don't know. I don't know."
"Ok, awesome," I say, not really knowing what to make of what he just told me. Is his mom the next J.K. Rowling-struggling author?
He leaves and about 10 minutes later, he returns with his mom. I nod to her and say, "I hear you're writing a book." I smile at her and I expect her to return the gesture.
She, however, turns to her son and goes, "You tell perfect strangers I'm writing a book?!"
He says, "Well, I just wanted to embarrass you!"
She gives ME a dirty look and then looks at her son in a way that I wondered if that kid was going to be alive tomorrow.
What could she have been writing that made her so ashamed? "The Adventures of a Transvestite: The True Story of a Mom Writing a Book While At Borders"? I sometimes wonder what it is that gets writers motivated to, well, write. Personally, I write better non-fiction than I do fiction; however, my fiction writing always seems to get inside the character's head pretty well. The problem with that is that I don't set the scene. If the reader doesn't know if the character is in the middle of rush hour on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, or somewhere on a sandy beach in Toogotogtooloo, then it's my fault. It doesn't matter that the dialogue would be fucking awesome, or that it made you feel a certain way, I didn't describe enough and the characters might as well be situated in a toilet.
I also get the feeling that I don't put as much time into my writing as other people do. I want to get it all down because I see it in my head that way NOW, and it needs to be written that way until I decide to change it. Others, they spend 5 hours writing one page. I don't see how this can't be excruciatingly painful for the author.
I just have to question...
If J.D. Salinger wrote "Catcher in the Rye" today, would it have the same effect, or would people pass it off as a 102 page Livejournal entry? After all, it's just words...
User Reviews
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-06-16 03:23:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by girlintheworld (user info) at 2005-06-16 02:38:49 (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll never forget when I saw you standin' there wearin' pants.
You were all alone.
And I thought to myself,
'Man I wish I had those pants!'
but the problem was, those weren't my pants!
I don't know whose pants they are!
---
Ok, having WAY too much fun with this one. Have a good night all.
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where's that frooooooooooooooooooooom
Submitted by girlintheworld (user info) at 2005-06-14 23:47:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I go to Drake.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-06-14 17:39:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think you should go straight to literary superstar!!
Where do you go to school? State? Mesa?
Submitted by SkinnyKenny (user info) at 2005-06-14 16:27:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I can relate. See this:
http://www.ubersite.com/m/68516
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-06-14 14:04:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:29:30 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:12:35 (#)
Ranking: 2
My biggest fear is that the school is going to ask me back to guest speak or teach in a few years. It's a fear only because I'll get suckered into working for the school and be stuck there for the rest of my life...
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Happened to my dad. For 30 years.
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My dad's still going strong at 42 years. And never a sabbatical. The man is truly nuts.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-06-14 13:59:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Try blowing me, to "break up the monotony".
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-06-14 13:45:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by BigCore (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:40:33 (#)
Ranking: 2
"If J.D. Salinger wrote "Catcher in the Rye" today, would it have the same effect, or would people pass it off as a 102 page Livejournal entry?"
More than likely.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2005-06-14 11:47:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
my fart, 4 seconds before clicking "rate this item", has rendered me unable to breathe, let alone think up any sort of comment.
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-06-14 11:39:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good luck with whatever you decide to do!
Submitted by Viciousriffs (user info) at 2005-06-14 11:33:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've never understood what it's like to not know what you want to do with your life, because I've known since I was 8- and as a result of that, I am inclined to suggest the musical route to you.
However, it should be the product of what you love most. If you don't know what you love most, you should at least have a few things that please you more than any other. Choose from these, and the only way you will be disappointed is if you find out that you don't love the field as much as you thought you did.
You'll find something, I genuinely hope you will- if not, you'll end up being one of those poor workhorses, falling into a job they hating and doing it forever because it pays the bills. Comfortable? Yes. Pleasing? Not in the least.
Chin up, lass. You'll be fine, just express your talents.
Submitted by abaddon (user info) at 2005-06-14 11:15:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"Should I stick with a behind-the-scenes journalistic approach?"
by this, do you mean "sit on Über 'til 4:30 am"....
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-06-14 10:30:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
www.quarterlifecrisis.com
Submitted by Flying_buttmonkey (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:42:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I tend to write everything by hand in little notebooks. You HAVE to take your time because you can't just slot stuff in once the fire's gone and it's all down (plus you end up with wanker's cramp of the BEAR) This usually means I forget where I was going by the time I get there.
Pretty fucking annoying really.
Submitted by BigCore (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:40:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"If J.D. Salinger wrote "Catcher in the Rye" today, would it have the same effect, or would people pass it off as a 102 page Livejournal entry?"
More than likely.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:29:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:12:35 (#)
Ranking: 2
My biggest fear is that the school is going to ask me back to guest speak or teach in a few years. It's a fear only because I'll get suckered into working for the school and be stuck there for the rest of my life...
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Happened to my dad. For 30 years.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-06-14 07:20:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh, girlintheworld.
I liked the post. As for your writing, I think you'll develop your own style the more you write. If you know you have a problem setting the scene, just write what you want and then go back and make some alterations. Eventually it will start to flow a lot easier. If you're strong in other areas, it's just a matter of improving a few weak points.
Submitted by Ducky (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:37:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
these posts really remind me of my last one...it's nice.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:30:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm gunna be a astronut when I grew up.
Submitted by girlintheworld (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:14:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Steve, that might be so. But the benefit of that would be getting free press. Professors do that all the time, travel from school to school, make millions, retire early.
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:12:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My biggest fear is that the school is going to ask me back to guest speak or teach in a few years. It's a fear only because I'll get suckered into working for the school and be stuck there for the rest of my life...
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:10:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by girlintheworld (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:09:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
the ember of talent...
How poetic. 30 years from now, after being on 20 million best-seller lists, you're gonna be teaching another j-class. Use that line. Classic.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:07:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Should I seriously consider a writing career"""
Not if you want to eat.
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:06:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
When I write, I see something in my head and just put it on the page. Everyone writes differently. When I was in j-school, I learnt that you can't teach people how to write. You can give them the tools to write. You can teach them the guidelines to follow that will make a good story, but some people just can't write.
But if you have the ember of talent, you have to fan the flame. Not writing doesn't help. The more you write, the easier it flows.
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:01:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
See? It feels better now, doesn't it?
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-06-14 06:00:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If "catcher" was an Über post, I would -2 WTF IM NOT READING ALL THAT.