Oh no it's another one of these, run away while you still can.

[apiphile]

Comments

[channonyarrow]

I have to admit, when you get on Twitter and berate people for not buying your books, it puts me ever further off of buying them even though I know there's a reasonable chance I would enjoy at least some of them. It isn't my expectation of the quality of the work, it's the experience I have with your defiant gatekeeping of your work. It's sad but true, because I do care that you're happy and all, and I think you're talented, but I don't want to buy anyone's anger - in some ways, if I wound up in a state where I knew discrimination was legal (Kentucky) and I knew that someone was discriminating against gays or blacks or whoever, my refusal to shop there would be just as much about not being willing to purchase hate as it would about standing up for the right thing

[channonyarrow]

(My comment was too long for one post

[swear_jar]

I don't think you want to hear any more on this from me, but I still think maybe you just need to dive into other things for a while and rest.

[wolfy_writing]

The enthusiasm thing is hard. The main skill I've picked up on that front is "Confine my 'Ooh, this sucks!' rants to a handful of friends, instead of a larger audience", because that limits the harm, but I can't do the cheerfully chatty "Hey, I'm writing this thing and will have it out soon and totally won't get distracted and nearly finish six thousand words about a completely different subject!" thing. (And it's about fifty-fifty whether other people's enthusiasm will encourage me or set off my contrarian "No, I will not write the zombie cats thing because know it would be funny and popular means I want to write a million dismal angstbucket stories instead!" streak.)

And I see what you mean about the analogy - being ignored isn't just an absence of attention, it's other people deciding that your work is not where they want to put their attention. And even if it isn't personal (which, from the perspective of people not reading your stuff, it nearly always isn't), it can still feel like a kick

[coniferous_you]

I hear you that on the "talented" thing. I have been told this, but it doesn't give me much comfort because I don't believe in talent the way people mean it (i.e., magic free pass and you are a mystic). I have the paranoia (let me tell you about the panic attack I had last week about this topic) and all that, but keeping a pragmatic view keeps me going. Writing is a craft and, given enough time, crafts can generally be mastered. Talent might be a catalyst, but it isn't a race by any means.

Ultimately I'm just naturally enthusiastic about stuff, because why the heck not!

NIHILISM RULES