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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Day 483

A spontaneous post because the TV has pissed me off again.

First - I'll be sharing a guest post AND giving away a signed copy of Better Off Red this Friday, Oct 28th over at Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust. Do check it out.

Now I rant.

I have 29 episodes of Batman the Animated Series on my DVR that my boyfriend has asked me to delete. Instead, I went through the other stuff we had saved and found "So you wanna be... A Writer" which first aired on Current TV back in 2010. I'm sitting here preparing a guest blog post for Friday about why I write, so I figured this show would be acceptable background noise. I remembered quickly that I'd already watched it, but haven't deleted it and now I remember why. The first story in the program featured Ben Karlin, writer and executive producer of the Daily Show, who summed up his Hollywood career as if you can just show up in LA, be instantly funny and the next thing you know-  BAM - you're getting the green light to start production on The Colbert Report. Not to mention the two Daily Show and one personal book he has put out. I don't doubt that this dude had some connections along the way, but I refused to believe this was a painless process.

As I've recently tweeted, I FUCKING hate it when authors who've experienced major or even minor writing success pretend that their writing journey was some sort of easy task. I have read so many author interviews where the author completely breezes over the difficulties of finishing a book, finding an agent, promoting a book etc. I thought I was all alone in my struggles. I thought I would go crazy before things worked out. This whole blog is about how that entire process has driven me to pony loving insanity and massive weight gain. I've passed my all time high by 3 lbs at this point. Go me. But - I also started this blog after Better Off Red was finished. Writing this book was easily (?) the hardest thing I've ever done and I've hiked a mountain as an extremely overweight pre-teen.

Along the way I've cried a lot, been depressed, doubted my very existence and gotten in massive fights with my significant other. All the things that some writers fail to mention, writers who I wont throw under the bus here. After I restrained myself from throwing my shoe through the TV, a segment featuring Robert "Bobby" Moresco, co-writer of Crash and Million Dollar Baby came on. His segment was the reason I'd saved this program for almost a year. Robert acknowledge what being a writer is really about and how fucking hard it is to not succeed, but to simply stay in the business. Sorry I'm swearing so much, but I want to punch Ben Karlin in the face.




I think of this interview every time I'm crying over the state of my bank account or begging my boyfriend to be patient with me.

For the aspiring writers out there - its hard. It's really, really hard, to write, to complete and to get your work acknowledged. But if this is something you want, you can't give up. Read. Write. Read and write some more.

For authors who aren't telling the whole truth, seriously, suck it.

2 comments:

  1. let's see, how can i start this? hello from a fan and thank you from a hopeful future author. :)
    i love your writing style but sometimes reading such witty words causes a little "uuugggh" moan to escape from my creative sector and i have the intense desire to rip my own novel into tiny little pieces by comparison... or perhaps just pull at a few of the loose ends? that'll make it unravel just as nicely, i would think. haha. nice to see you put on your pants one leg at a time like the rest of us. i think it was actually this curiosity that prompted me to seek out your bio off of Bold Strokes' website. sort of a, "who is this person that so possesses the writing abilities i wish i had!?" ;) keep up the good work! it's been a while since i've enjoyed a book as much as Better Off Red.

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  2. hey xxCGxx, i have the same problem every time i read a good book. Diana Gabladon makes me want to quit life because i will NEVER write historical romance novels the way she does. ever. even if i do some voodoo soul selling. i feel the same way about Ellen Hopkins and LaVryle Spencer and so many other authors, but i have to accept that and just be the best Rebekah i can be. :) dont you dare rip that novel in half. keeping working at it and be the best xxCGxx you can be. *high five*.

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