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Writing and Publishing, Part 10:
Creating the content:
About emotions and writing with anger:
Learn to read carefully, so you will write the same way.
Here is an example message from Mr. X. who did neither. It's very
long winded and the punch line is in the "ps." It is
really quite funny considering what comes before. Believe it or
not, I read this all the way through three times. You ought to
be able to do it once.
Dear Editor:
How nice of you to say such wonderful things to the creative
minds of America (and possibly internationally); not only did
you manage to downgrade 99% of our creative minds, you also managed
to downgrade Poe and Frost, who happen to be historically proven
to be two of the greatest American poets. Actually, I was disappointed;
you neglected to say anything negative about Oscar Wilde, Henry
David Thoreau, or Walt Whitman; maybe this is because your literary
knowledge is on the same basic level as your writing ability.
No wonder you're 69 years old, and still struggling to have someone
read your work; you don't appreciate literature for what it is.
It seems that all you know how to do is criticize. Well, let me
ask you this, then; what made you
think that after you told everyone you were 69 and still trying
to get something published, that anyone in their right mind would
listen to you? All you did was admit failure; it was basically
an admittance of your own lack of writing skills.
I was particularly fond of this section of your diatribe: Forth,
concerning the manuscript. Forth? Does that come before fifth?
No wonder your Wesoomi company is still a no-name corporation
in the eyes of the writing world...they have people like you writing
for it; the funny thing is, you continued to talk about how manuscript
submissions should be PERFECT! NO MISTAKES! My own mistake was
to continue reading the tripe that was on your homepage; it would
be enough to discourage anyone from writing anything, if they
believed what you wrote. Isn't the point of writing to write freely,
and to express your ideas? The only impression I felt was a constant
complaint about how "Wasoomi isn't profitable enough yet".
Do you expect young, eager writers to flock to you after reading
this? Do you think they want to give
you all of their hard work, their sweat, to a company that apparently
doesn't know the first thing about writing in itself? I think
not. Truth be told, I'm thinking about having my head examined
for wanting to submit my manuscript to you; 2 years of hard work
shouldn't be wasted on someone as small-time and insignificant.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. If you hate
your job so much, and you're so God damned bitter about it all,
why do you still do it? You're not good at writing; you admitted
that yourself. So why not try something that you could be good
at? Why try to discourage others, just because youfailed at something?
Don't you think that by age 69, you'd
know by now that writing isn't your niche in life? Maybe try encouraging
young writers, instead of telling them that it's hopeless to even
try. You didn't do a very good job of that; maybe the whole section
about it being "crap" and "going where it belongs,
in the toilet" wasn't the way to convince writers to give
it their best shot. All in all, I guess that's where most of your
work ended up, right in the trash can...otherwise, you wouldn't
be so damn bitter about the creative world. Encouragement, son.
That's what
creativity is all about. You insisted on constantly talking about
"profit". Creativity isn't about profit; it's about
being yourself, and having fun. I know what you're saying to yourself
as you read this; "I was talking about writing professionally,
and about how cruel and uncaring the marketing and publishing
aspects are; you have no right to write me a letter like this,
I'm going to write you a letter back telling you how much of an
asshole you are". Well, go ahead. I'll put it in the toilet,
right next to what you wrote on your homepage, and probably right
next to whatever else you've written
lately.
Did you ever stop to think about the damage you might be causing
to young minds? Do you even understand the value of anything that's
written by anyone, because it's what makes them feel whole? Because
it just might be their sole form of expression to a world or a
society that is cold and uncaring? You keep talking about "format".
Format this, format that, it's not in the right format, get your
format right. Let me ask you, have you ever read a Stephen King/Richard
Bachman novel or short story? If you have, maybe you'll notice
that King doesn't concern himself much with format; he never has
and he never will, because even his earliest stories are written
in his very offbeat, original style. Tell old Stevie King about
format, and he'll tell you to go shit in your hat. That's what
makes creation wonderful, my friend. Not profit, or format, or
anything like that; that in itself is what makes creation uncreative.
Having no format, or rules, or anything of that nature is creation.
Just being. I don't know if you can understand that or not, but
that's how I feel about it. Do you honestly believe that people
will read your section and say "Hey, now I know exactly what
to do! I was lost before, but now good old Wasoomi straightened
me right up. I'll just go buy this book
about writing, because what someone else tells me to do is right,
and the way I feel is wrong." Bingo...that book was written
by yet another author, and kudos to him, because he wants to help
other writers...maybe you were expecting some money for promoting
his book? Was his book in the acceptable format? He's not the
one telling people not to even try, or that their work just isn't
good enough for anyone. Conformity is the worst enemy of writers,
and teaching conformity is a very dangerous and harmful act; not
only in writing, but in every aspect of creativity.
Can I ask you this? You like to make fun of people, it seems.
Tell you what. Send me a sample of something great that you've
written, Chief. I'd love to critique it; really, I would. You
like to critique others so much, let us do it to you. You managed
to criticize just about every form of writer from the fiction
author to the poet, without even reading their work. Don't take
it personally (well, yes...take it personally), but with Wasoomi
being in the state it seems to be in, you should be reading everything
you can get your paws on, and not picking and choosing. I know
I'd be reading every piece of work I could get from authors; who
knows where a genius may be? How do you guys at Wasoomi get off
deciding what's good and what isn't? I haven't seen a
Wasoomi book on the shelves lately, so you obviously haven't been
doing much work (outside of criticizing people you don't know,
that is) these days. I don't have any of your collected works
sitting on my bookshelf, but hey, I have the collected works of
Poe, Wilde, and Tennyson. I Guess their "format" was
a little bit of alright, since their work has survived hundreds
of years and thousands of readers; a much longer span of time
than your webpage will probably survive, most likely. You know,
that brings me to yet another point. Get comfortable; you aren't
going anywhere for awhile.
"We will not publish books of poetry because poetry just
doesn't sell. The reasons are simple. First, anyone can write
poetry, even me. In addition, most poetry is extremely personal
to the person who writes it. As a consequence, it doesn't mean
crap to anyone else. Poetry is not a marketable commodity. Not
even Frost sells all that well. Poe would have starved even worse
than he did if he had depended only on his great poetry. "The
Raven" is one of the most powerful pieces ever written but
nobody really
cares."
How dare you...how dare you tell anyone not to attempt to publish
a book of poetry? Anyone can write poetry, so you say? Let me
read one of your poems; I'd like to have a look at it. I don't
expect one of your poems to arrive in my In-box anytime soon,
because I doubt you've written any lately, if at all. Maybe your
poetry isn't a "marketable commodity"; how about calling
it a "poem"? What exactly does this mean, by the way:
"But nobody really cares". Wow...wrong again. Guess
what? I care. Lots of people care...you just have to want to understand
it, what it means, and what it meant to him. Tell me, honestly,
that you've never read a poem and said "Wow...I really know
what he or she was feeling when they wrote that". Oops. I
forgot, no one cares. No one at all, right? So, that makes it
totally worthless, just because it doesn't sell? "We're a
business, we have to worry about what sells and what doesn't,"
you're saying; I can understand that completely, but think about
it this way: if you are a writer, doesn't their work concern you
as well? Forget about price margins and marketable commodities
and diet sodas for a second, and mull this over in your mind:
you are writers, working for other writers. You took this job
knowing full well what you were going to do in this business.
Does that mean you have to fulfill the money-hungry corporate
stereotype? I also understand the concept that being an author
is a career, and that we have to make money as well. But that
doesn't mean you have to base your writing or you work on it.
Imagine a company of people with a creative vision all working
together, with a positive goal. Writers working for writers. Now,
that's an interesting thought..!
I ask you again, do you have any idea what kind of affect you
might be having on a mind that's young and impressionable? A young
man or woman (or, God forbid, a child) might read that and start
to doubt themselves. "Wow, this guy is a professional, and
he says that I shouldn't even try", or something to that
end. I'm lucky I'm not one of those people for are influenced
by the negativity of pessimists, but you know what, some people
are; some people have doubts about their writing, and they don't
need
negativity; they need support. They need people to tell them that
it's good work, and if it isn't good work, how they can help to
improve it. What's the harm of sending it to a publisher? What
do you have to lose, besides some computer paper and a stamp?
At least you know you gave it a shot; you tried. Whether they
read it or not is for them to decide, and if you keep sending,
sooner or later, they'll give it a look. That's what's wrong with
this world today, chummy; everyone wants to come up with so many
reasons why something can't happen, instead of reasons why something
can. It seems to be your problem, too.
I don't want this to turn into a battle of e-mails, because this
e-mail isn't a personal attack on you. You have the freedom to
write whatever is on your mind, just like I have the freedom to
send as many of these e-mails as I want and say whatever I want;
this is America, the home of the brave and the land of the free.
If I want to call you a silly shit-for-brains asshole, I will,
but I'm not going to do that; I don't really believe that you
are a sillly shit-for-brains asshole. It isn't personal. It just
disturbs me when
people are bent on discouraging, instead of encouraging. Do you
understand where I'm coming from, on this issue? The only reason
I feel so strongly about it is because if I hadn't had encouragement
at a young age, I would have never picked up the pen again; I
would never have explored. But so many people stood behind me
and encouraged me, helped me, and worked with me so that I wouldn't
give up; that was when I was a young boy, and I'm still writing.
I just don't think it's right that the creative mind should be
criticized before it even begins; it should have a chance to blossom
and expand. "I wanted to give them a taste of what the Real
World is like,"
you're probably saying, and you're right on that count; the real
world is cruel, and publishers don't give a good God damn about
writers, for the most part. But don't downgrade writers at large,
just because publishers have to be tough.
I do agree with you on one thing, though; the part about excellence.
I wouldn't have worded it the way you did (you probably know that
about me by now), but the theme was at least halfway correct:
excellence is the best policy. I would have said something to
the end of "Excellence is the best policy; although inexperienced
writers may have trouble expounded their work in an excellent
fashion, asking for help and/or ideas will greatly improve their
work. Lack of excellence is by no means a reason not to write;
excellence, like all skills, takes practice. Excellence is a goal
to set for yourself; a goal that doesn't end, but continues to
become greater each time you achieve it." You know?
I just want you to know that we do have a voice out there; we're
not just insignificant specks in the writing world. Not everything
involving creativity (music, writing, acting, etc.) has to point
to profit and money; the fact that you are doing what you love
and making concrete is the point of creativity. Bram Stoker wrote
Dracula about one small, simple dream he had; in these modern
times, it is a classic. Did old Bram think it would become the
literary milestone that it is today? I doubt it. But he felt the
compulsion to create; to make his thoughts concrete, and to be
able to share his heart and feelings with the rest of the world.
Old Bram Stoker is dead these days and his bones have probably
all turned to dust, but to a large part of the world, the creative
world, people like Stoker are immortal; made immortal by the ingeniunity
of the pen, and the simple thoughts that were going through his
head while that pen was in his hand. We can live on forever and
be remembered by what you and I created while our hearts were
still strong and alive in our bodies. Love, hate, romance, violence,
sexuality, immortality, divinity...the list goes on and on. It
never ends, just like the human creativity never ends. Whether
a pulp writer or A. Lord Tennyson, writing is writing, creating
is creating, living is living, and dying is dying. But please,
don't discourage creativity. I honestly believe that it is the
one truly beautiful thing left in this world, and in this society;
it lives freely and is full of life on a written page. It changes
lives and stirs our hearts in a society that encourages rebellion;
creation
is one of the oldest forms of rebellion because of lack of rules,
and not all writers are "good guys" (for example, Adolf
Hitler's Mein Kampf or Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto), but still,
that is their freedom to express their own point of view, and
their own personal feelings. "Rebellion" in itself doesn't
necessarily constitute disorder; it merely constitutes a feeling
of desire to break the mold of formed ideas. That is power, my
friend; power for people who may be completely insignificant,
and the power of creation for an animal that does not possess
the knowledge required to overcome death. It is our only hope
of living forever. That is our immortality. That is the immortality
in all of us.
There. I've said my peace...now edit it for content, and try to
sell it.
My concern lies within satisfaction of myself the people I care
about, and those who can understand (or at least respect) my thought
process. I'm not a revolutionary or any kind of anarchist; free
expression is freedom for everyone, regardless of age, sex, or
color. Unfortunately, the American way has always involved money
and power of the limited, mortal breed; the YM and Cosmopolitan
magazines of the world have taught us that, and continue to teach
our children that you have to be beautiful and/or rich to be happy.
It's a sad state of affairs, my friend; it's very sad to live
in a world where physical attraction and money dictate a person's
value. Although there's
nothing you or I can do to change the world at large, we can do
our part to change the immediate world around us, and only hope
to touch people's hearts and minds; to attempt to share our own
world with so many people whom we will never know. We may never
have the chance to meet them personally, but can have a bond with
them through the sharing of our heart. That's the value inside
of us; that's the value of being able to give your ideas to the
world. You entitled your section Message To Young Writers, but
in truth, I honestly hope that very, very few young writers read
it. The difference between you and I is that I'm 20 years old
and you're almost 70, and you're the one who cares about selling;
I'm the one who understands real value and worth, while your comprehension
of value lies within a piece of George Washington paper;
our society teaches that that is the only real value, and I'm
sorry for that. Sorry that our world has to live in a place where
beautiful things such as music and writing are discarded like
yesterday's orange peels and coffee grounds the second our telephones
ring, but we can change that in some way, however small, if we
support each other and encourage each other never to give up.
Remember that.
p.s. This letter is not intended to offend by any means; rather, it is intended to inform, and to make one small voice heard. Looking back and re-reading this letter,I admit that I had some hard words to say in the beginning, and I feel I may owe you a small apology; however, I'm not going to change it. I've said what I've said, and I don't believe in going back and rewriting something you wrote at an earlier time; that changes the point of creative writing. Still, I meant no offense by it.
Sincerely,
Mr X.
Mr. X gives us an interesting example of the effects of anger. In a previous E-mail, he had offered to send me a manuscript. Of course, I had to tell him that we are not accepting manuscripts. I also suggested that he read the "Message to Writers" essay. I'm sure you can see that one or more of those things made him very angry. I believe that anger caused him to misread my essay. It seems that he seized only on words and managed to take each item out of context. He even managed to see words that were not there.
Mr. X needs to read more carefully if he is ever to be an effective writer. That is very difficult when you are angry. In this case, he demonstrates my point, that we should never attempt to communicate when we are angry. The only person I know of who wrote effectively when he was angry was Philip Wylie. Even in his case, I am not sure that his anger was anything more than an affectation. For most of us, anger simply makes us incoherent and careless.
This message also points up the concepts of professionalism and vulgarity. In formal and in informal communication, foul language is not acceptable. Profanity is simply the result of an underdeveloped communication skill. It is unprofessional in the extreme. We should always act professionally. You can never know who might be listening or watching. All of your correspondence should be professional. You are either a professional or you are not. There is no sometimes.
Finally, after reading this personal attack, I reread my essay. Sure enough, there was a typo. I had written forth where I should have written fourth. I quickly corrected that. I also notices a few places where I could improve the strength of the message by making minor changes, which I did. Of course, I sent Mr. X a thank you note.
Next time, I want to get into more on professionalism, specifically,
about ethics and plagiarism.
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