I get the feeling that this is like the times people come up behind me when I'm playing the piano at a party and ask, "How do I learn to play like you?" and "How long have you been playing the piano?" It is tough for them when I say, "I don't know," and "Since I was four." (I'm olde now.) They want to hear that they can pick up some software and that music is a matter of punching the proper keys like in a video game. Trust me, figuring out the notes and rhythm is only the beginning.
But I think the answer given by brownkitty is a good start. You could have a boilerplate email like that one ready to go out to people who are just asking casually, in general. It could help some of them realize that there's more to it than "inspiration and the pages pour out," as portrayed in so many movies and TV shows. My own mother has taken twenty years to accept that this isn't true: "If you were a REAL writer, you would just sit down one day Inspired and you'd type out the novel properly the first time around--just give it up, because if you have to go back through it and change things, you just aren't talented and you're wasting your time!" She could never accept that Paul McCartney wasn't born playing instruments and writing songs with no practice at all, either. It's tough for people to realize that this is hard work, and with fewer rewards than just about anything other than housework. (Housework not only goes unnoticed and is mocked, but can be undone in a second when the crew troops in from a hike with muddy feet, drops all the gear on the floor, and splays their filth all over the rooms you've just cleaned and tidied!)
Just let them know that usually, it's a thankless job. Only the lucky few even get into print, let alone make decent sales. They need to go elsewhere for money and prestige. Most people think it's a matter of just applying butt to chair and typing, but it's more than that (though that is step one.) Most people apparently believe that if you "can't get published," then you must be an illiterate prone to misspellings and comma splices, and that you don't have anything interesting to say. This is my pet peeve, as when people find out that I write, they immediately dig for "WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF YOU" and jump to "OH, YOU'RE JUST ONE OF THOSE STUPID ILLITERATES WHO CAN'T SPELL." That's why it's best not to let anyone know that you write, unless you LIKE being mocked and picked on.
If you tell them this . . . then the posers will fall away. The only ones left (albeit crushed-looking and pathetic) will be the ones who "have it." Not that this will get them anywhere, but at least they're not posers.
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timeasmymeasure
Just be honest with them!
Date: 2009-11-24 04:12 pm (UTC)But I think the answer given by brownkitty is a good start. You could have a boilerplate email like that one ready to go out to people who are just asking casually, in general. It could help some of them realize that there's more to it than "inspiration and the pages pour out," as portrayed in so many movies and TV shows. My own mother has taken twenty years to accept that this isn't true: "If you were a REAL writer, you would just sit down one day Inspired and you'd type out the novel properly the first time around--just give it up, because if you have to go back through it and change things, you just aren't talented and you're wasting your time!" She could never accept that Paul McCartney wasn't born playing instruments and writing songs with no practice at all, either. It's tough for people to realize that this is hard work, and with fewer rewards than just about anything other than housework. (Housework not only goes unnoticed and is mocked, but can be undone in a second when the crew troops in from a hike with muddy feet, drops all the gear on the floor, and splays their filth all over the rooms you've just cleaned and tidied!)
Just let them know that usually, it's a thankless job. Only the lucky few even get into print, let alone make decent sales. They need to go elsewhere for money and prestige. Most people think it's a matter of just applying butt to chair and typing, but it's more than that (though that is step one.) Most people apparently believe that if you "can't get published," then you must be an illiterate prone to misspellings and comma splices, and that you don't have anything interesting to say. This is my pet peeve, as when people find out that I write, they immediately dig for "WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF YOU" and jump to "OH, YOU'RE JUST ONE OF THOSE STUPID ILLITERATES WHO CAN'T SPELL." That's why it's best not to let anyone know that you write, unless you LIKE being mocked and picked on.
If you tell them this . . . then the posers will fall away. The only ones left (albeit crushed-looking and pathetic) will be the ones who "have it." Not that this will get them anywhere, but at least they're not posers.