I am feeling very ranty right now, so here it goes.
I remember a conversation that I had a little while ago and I was pretty upset by it. And thinking about it, I am still pretty upset by it. Most likely because this conversation keeps resurfacing, just in different forms. I have been writing for quite a long time. So anyone that knows me is pretty well acquainted with the fact that it is something I do and do with a passion. So there is a person close to me whose knee jerk reaction to just about everything is to assume that you are doing nothing. It doesn't matter what the situation is or how important the situation is. You aren't doing anything about it. It's not just me that this happens to. Everyone gets accused of doing nothing. But it doesn't make it any less annoying.
So the start of the conversation was me being accused of wasting my time when I could be writing. That I probably hadn't written anything in months. I should be writing instead of doing whatever it was that I was supposedly doing. I wanted to bite the person. How dare they?! I had been writing constantly! Just because I hadn't been talking about it, don't just come at me, telling me that I have been doing nothing. Then came the lame excuse of "Well how was I suppose to know?" How about asking? That tends to work when you want to know information.
The continuation of this conversation falls into the "why aren't your writing stuff that could be published?" category. I tend to write things that don't fall into the publishing category, like short fan fics or random clippets of things that are running around in my head that don't really have a place in a story. Well not yet anyway. But I don't feel like I'm wasting my time with it. If anything, I am making my writing better by seeing what works and what doesn't. And while the end goal is getting my name on a cover of a book that other people read, that isn't always my drive. I create stories because I want to. Because I like putting my thoughts down on paper. Not everything I do has to be driven by monetary return. I think the statement that burned me here was, "Well you need to stop messing around and hurry up and get published." Seriously? This is what you want to say to me?
It's like this person believes I can just walk into a some magic publishing warehouse, add my book to the pile, and say "Get that on the shelves for me. Thanks, you're such a doll.". Again, this person is going to make me bite them.
And the conversation rounds the bend with the constant talk of me writing and finally getting a novel done. And not encouragement, no, why would they ever do that? It's those backhanded comments. I was talking about bettering my computer in order to play video games on it. The response I get, "Well, I thought you would be using your spare time to write, so you can publish your book." Really? You and I are about to stop speaking. Keep messing with me. And here is what really gets a rise out of me. This person is supposed to be writing as well; the same as me. But do they have anything done? Nope! And yet they think they can give me a whole bunch of advice on what I'm supposed to be doing. Next time I hear this noise, I am going to tell them I will show them my book if they show me theirs.
I create because I want to. I write because I want to. And yes, there are times when I am slacking and procrastinating. But seriously, writing is my hobby and I will enjoy it. I am not working on anyone else's schedule. I don't care if you think I should have a dozen books published by now or you think I am wasting time working on frivolous pieces that aren't going to amount to anything. I will do what I want. I don't create for you. I create for me.
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