Congrats on hitting the 3-0! Cue a bunch of anxiety about whether you've hit this or that milestone, whether you're getting the age-appropriate amount of success etc. At least that's where I've been these past years. I'm slowly learning to define success on my own terms and not as something that needs to fit into a mold. I hope you'll get there faster than I have, and good luck with your publishing endeavors!
Re rejection, Octavia Butler wrote in one of her essays for the collection Bloodchild and Other Stories that having a story rejected is like being told you have an ugly kid. Come to think of it, Anne Lamott said the same thing in Bird by Bird. It's kind of remarkable, I think, that two writers who wrote completely different books, one of whom is a mother and the other was not, used the same analogy. I'm sure a bunch of other writers made the same connection
( ... )
As for the successes thing. All I can say is I'd feel happier trying and failing then doing nothing. So I think my mindset right now is that I actively and happily pursue failure. Give me my dose of it 'cause it's going to be such a fun journey along the way.
First time I've logged into LJ in a while, my friends feed doesn't seem to work anymore, so it's a nice surprise to click on a friend's blog and see they're still posting. I googled you after that post, ages ago - where you said something along the lines of "just wanting to vanish quietly", and was relieved to find you were alive and kicking on a twitter account and just wanted to vanish from LJ or something, (not vanish...yourself).
Looks like I've got a lot of posts to catch up on...gotta learn how to use this new format LJ. Does the friends feed only show posts from the same month now, or something? All of the people I follow post way too infrequently for that! Maybe I can adjust the settings??
Comments 7
Re rejection, Octavia Butler wrote in one of her essays for the collection Bloodchild and Other Stories that having a story rejected is like being told you have an ugly kid. Come to think of it, Anne Lamott said the same thing in Bird by Bird. It's kind of remarkable, I think, that two writers who wrote completely different books, one of whom is a mother and the other was not, used the same analogy. I'm sure a bunch of other writers made the same connection ( ... )
Reply
But I never look nor feel my age, so.
All I can say is I do wish for the best for you! <3
Reply
30 was really hard... but you will rock the 30s like no tomorrow! >:V
Reply
As for the successes thing. All I can say is I'd feel happier trying and failing then doing nothing. So I think my mindset right now is that I actively and happily pursue failure. Give me my dose of it 'cause it's going to be such a fun journey along the way.
Reply
As far as we're concerned, you're already successful. All that's left is demonstrating it to the rest of the world.
Reply
First time I've logged into LJ in a while, my friends feed doesn't seem to work anymore, so it's a nice surprise to click on a friend's blog and see they're still posting. I googled you after that post, ages ago - where you said something along the lines of "just wanting to vanish quietly", and was relieved to find you were alive and kicking on a twitter account and just wanted to vanish from LJ or something, (not vanish...yourself).
Looks like I've got a lot of posts to catch up on...gotta learn how to use this new format LJ. Does the friends feed only show posts from the same month now, or something? All of the people I follow post way too infrequently for that! Maybe I can adjust the settings??
Reply
Leave a comment