Hey there, person who pompously attempts to discredit or deride anyone who doesn't agree with you on this joke of a writing forum that I thought would be a great community to explore this hobby of mine but has turned out to be riddled with pointless in-fighting, flamewars and ridiculous clique related nonsense: if you're going to go onto a writing forum and make yourself out to be some sort of self-styled "expert" on both the basic craft and the business side of being an author, please make sure that your "professional" website isn't a poorly designed piece of utter crap riddled with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. And that you have more than just a handful of not very inspiring pieces as examples of your work. I also find it telling that you would state that your columns, which according to your website were published in the 90s, were acclaimed by a couple of big names from the 70s and 80s, without any text of said acclaim to go with it. Okay, so you are a "published" author, and this lends you some level of cachet in the eyes of other aspiring writers who think that you have found the magic formula and want you to share the answers with them. (And did I notice that you're selling some sort of something in that regard on your website, hrm?) I know some writers who have either comparable or considerably more mainstream success and wouldn't begin to be as haughty as to give the advice you're throwing out there, as if you're a scion of the editing and publishing aspects of being a professional writer. I'm no desperate sycophant, being first and foremost just a writer-for-leisure, so I can't count myself among your throng of breathless minions all chanting about how you're the All Knowing Greatness. Let me know when your level of work rivals or exceeds these two gentlemen - then I'll reconsider my position on your "authority" as a writer...
Image kindly "borrowed" from Neil Gaiman's Twitter feed.
Follow him at @neilhimself as he chronicles life as a writer, wanderings and ramblings, and adventures in beekeeping...
2 comments:
I can't imagine how many unpublished gems are out there, and this guy ain't one of em! what a blowhard. and its sad. he has spent his entire life filling himself up with emptiness. pats on the back, overblown confidence. those ppl are drains on society. its a wonder he hasn't already segwayed into politics.
I don't know why this is the case, but there are a lot of people on that particular forum who have I guess decided that they are "experts" in writing, editing, publishing, copyright, etc., and should be treated as the ultimate authority. I don't use that forum very much, since I've noticed that this same core group of people dominate the dialogue and make most topics about themselves. I frequent another, more general discussion forum for communities in NW PA where the people just terrify me sometimes with their religious & political beliefs. To preserve my faith in humanity I think I should just stop talking to people...
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