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If you write and do not seek to publish, what are you? Is the world still publish or perish even in these days of super hard competition?
Isn't it a rare person who can both write well and promote their work well?
If you go through a period of writing essentially in secret or not for any type of monetary gain, are you a dliettante, or just practicing?
Isn't it a rare person who can both write well and promote their work well?
If you go through a period of writing essentially in secret or not for any type of monetary gain, are you a dliettante, or just practicing?
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Nevada
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Re: Dilettante?
Wed, May 28, 2008 - 8:33 AMI have never thought about it that way. If you want to write for yourself, go for it.
When I started writing again, I did it just for me. It took someone else asking what I was planning on doing with it to get me thinking about publishing. The novel I am writing now is something I would like to publish. I am writing it because I want to share it with others. The first one, not so much. That one may just be mine. =)
Besides, practice makes perfect! -
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Re: Dilettante?
Wed, May 28, 2008 - 8:37 AMI'm not really sure what I am doing at the moment. Being a new parent has totally thrown me off my game. I still have ideas, but the writing is not coming easily.
I'm mostly just hinking about this issue in broad terms and wondered what others think about it. -
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Re: Dilettante?
Wed, May 28, 2008 - 8:59 AMStacie,
I'm writing every morning. Just a couple of lines to start my day. However, I've written some short stories, and started some long stories I would like to finish. However, I work for a living and writing is taking a back seat. That doesn't mean I don't want to publish or share my works. Just not planning to live off my writing at this time. Would be cool if that works out someday.
What this means to you; If you like to write, write. Put down what's happening now, your conflicts and challenges. It will give you material and emotional context for future work.
And good luck, both being a new parent and writing. -
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Re: Dilettante?
Wed, May 28, 2008 - 11:15 AMGreat suggestions Tim! I had to put my writing on hold for several years when I was in college. Now that I work full time, have a family, and belly dance as a hobby, writing is something I REALLY have to make time for. Sometimes I write everyday, sometimes I don't. Then there are days when I lock myself in the computer room and write all day and well into the night. Good luck with whatever and however you decide to continue your writing.
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Re: Dilettante?
Wed, May 28, 2008 - 11:49 AMMarge Piercy: "The real writer is one who really writes." -- From her poem "For the young who want to," at
rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1610.html
I'm just back from WisCon, where one of the best events I attended was the Mid-Career Writers' Gathering. Because I didn't know what I was (I was told I qualified) -- I'd published in the 70s and 80s, dropped off the face of the earth in the 90s, and am now publishing again. But I never stopped writing -- in my journal, various drafts, nonfiction articles, writing as part of my business, etc. But actively submitting for publication? Rarely.
One thing we all agreed on at the gathering was that a writing career is completely non-linear.
I looked up "career" a couple years ago, because in an interview I was asked about my "writing career" and that threw me for a loop. Unlike "profession," which presupposes a job of some sort, "career" is more akin to a life path. "Progress or general course of action of a person through life" is the first definition in my 1975 Random House College Dictionary.
Emily Dickinson comes to mind as someone whose writings were unpublished during her lifetime. I believe that commitment is the operative term in deciding whether one is a dilettante or not. When it comes to drawing or painting, I'd say I'm a dilettante. But, whether published or not, I've always been a committed writer.
I've got my con report posted here
deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/20...tml
