HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Dec. 13, 2005 It’s difficult to say really why people believe the things they do. Who are we to judge? Right? Yet, judge we do. Judge we must. It’s an innate characteristic of we humans. We are driven to judgment almost every day of our lives. Two days ago I stood at the department store trying to judge which pair of shoes looked best. Today, I had to decide exactly what I was going to throw at a “men’s issues” group I lead once a week at work. I made a judgment that the guys were sick of hearing about personal hygiene so we discussed holiday depression and its playmate Seasonal Affective Disorder. Bad judgment. They wanted to talk about women and the nice things they like to do with them. It’s difficult to imagine trying to make really tough judgments. You know, like “should I commute this guy’s death sentence” or “should abortion be legal?” Those are tough decisions that can only be made by tough people. I’d fold under the pressure. I would lay on the floor and puke if I had to make such decisions. I’m pretty lousy at it. On the other hand, if someone asked me to judge their writing abilities, I would welcome the challenge...not that I am a great writer myself. I just love to read and critique the writings of others (positive feedback of course). Speaking of writing, writers are a sensitive lot. Publishers are not. I have had rejection letters that were just photocopies of letters sent to other miserable little insecure writers like myself. Basically the letters said, “your submission sucks.” Of course, these words are sugar coated with comments like, “Your book is not quite what we are looking for at this time. Feel free to submit again, however.” Ha! Like hell I’ll submit to you again. You see, publishers are the almighty judges in a writer’s world. They are the ultimate definition of success. Publishers judge the way they do because of economic reasons. Writers write for creative reasons. The two do not always mix. Publishers and writers have two different mindsets. It’s sort of the old vinegar and oil thing. I enjoyed Tim Stelly’s article on Publish America, a dot of feces in a swill of sewer in my mind. They are predators preying on writers like a jackal preys on a wounded lamb. They build a trap that many writers quite innocently walk into. After all, they accept you. Yes! You have been accepted by a real “publisher.” What more could you want? We accept you. Suddenly the jaws of the trap crush your will to sit in front of the keyboard for the next ten years. The lowly mouse writer grabbed for the cheese and got his little ego smashed to hell and back.
How was that for emotion? Good, huh? That’s how the business works. Is there a moral here? I’m not sure. I just wrote it. I didn’t judge it.
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
