Amateur-writerly thoughts
"Not being published doesn't invalidate writing as a learning experience or as a purely fun experience. ... [I]f someone does embroidery or quilting or painting or gardening or so on, nobody would think of saying to them "If you aren't selling your work, you should stop" because that would be crazy. But people say this all the time to writers, and it's just as crazy." -- Martha Wells
Saw this quote at someone's LJ. I've met with this attitude too; even from people who have the best intentions and so keep urging me to try to publish something. I have an idea about why this is so: things like embroidery and painting, see, they bring results that are touchable, viewable and can have a use - even with amateur paintings you can decorate your living room with them, or something like this. Those are all activities where you make things. A thing made is its own validation.
And the story is not actually a thing. You can't touch it. You can't use it. Therefore it needs another kind of validation - like the prestige of seeing your name in print or money being paid.
Saw this quote at someone's LJ. I've met with this attitude too; even from people who have the best intentions and so keep urging me to try to publish something. I have an idea about why this is so: things like embroidery and painting, see, they bring results that are touchable, viewable and can have a use - even with amateur paintings you can decorate your living room with them, or something like this. Those are all activities where you make things. A thing made is its own validation.
And the story is not actually a thing. You can't touch it. You can't use it. Therefore it needs another kind of validation - like the prestige of seeing your name in print or money being paid.