PoetryPlus

“The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.” ~William Hazlitt

Okay, the title of this little blog sounds like a play on Hamlet’s dilemma. (No pun intended.) I was thinking about writing nine reasons for not writing and one for writing. Does that sound unfair or unbalanced? On second thought, it did to me. Writers usually write because they feel compelled to write for one reason or another.

Maybe it’s to pay the rent or see themselves in print once again.

While talking to Charlie Rose a week or so ago, John Updike admitted that he writes because he enjoys seeing himself in print, whether it be his latest novel or a book review for the New Yorker. It is all the same bowl of cherries.

Maybe you have to be a little fruity to be a writer. They sure endure a lot, and most of their joys, as a writer, are short-lived. The ripening of a book can be incredible long. Sometimes it never blossoms for a variety of reasons from agents that don’t seal the deal to an editor that abandons your publishing house for a more prosperous residency.Then your book withers from lack of sunlight and water.

And, for heaven’s sake, if you decide to self-publish your book, you instantly take on the roles of finance backer, chief editor, book designer, book packager, printer, worldwide distributor, storage facilitator, ongoing publicist, market manager, number one go-fer, and everlasting watchdog. These are all challenging roles to play, and you might not be able to afford as much help along the way as you had imagined.

However, Helen Keller wrote that “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” And the creation of your own book seems totally worth it when you get your first fan letter that says, “I loved your whole book! Do you have any more?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 6:46 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.