Inspiration from unexpected places

I had been blogging NaNo. I took it down. Someone from my life found it, made a horrible, crappy comment and it crushed my will to blog about this experience. It almost took away my drive to complete this challenge. I didn't write for six days. I was so mad and hurt, but I had an idea and sat down to write it. From there, my imagination took off. I wrote six thousand words yesterday. While that may not be a big deal to others, this is my first time to this rodeo and I was pretty excited. Tonight, I was able to keep it going with another 2000 and am thinking about how I build this up and bring it all to an end. I should probably thank asshole-comment-guy for the inspiration.

OK. You go.

It's awesome how you turned that around.

People we know who don't understand why we write are always the worst critics. Don't let an idiot keep you from realizing your dream.

Go, Lily, go!

Kudos to you for turning it around. But as far as the asshole with the comment, that blows dead bears. I've run into that once before and the comment that person made still irritates me (now several years later), but I'm determined to prove him wrong, wrong, totally wrong. That way, when I'm a published author one day, I can call him up and say "remember when you said..."

Anyway, I'm cheering you on too. Go Lily!

The first three years I did NaNo, I posted it to a blog as I went, and actively solicited feedback.

I got precious little of it, but at least I asked.

Nobody said anything mean, thankfully, but I think if they had, I'd have been ok. The thing is, no matter what you write--no matter what--it won't be everybody's cup of tea. Somewhere, I knew that. So when one of the people who started reading along with me that first year, someone who I thought more than anybody else was in the book's target audience, told me he didn't really care for it? Meh. Whatever, man. I was having fun writing it, and if not him, others would get into the book.

The only other thing I'll say is that when you get flamed like that, consider the source. If the "someone from your life" happens to be the senior editor at a major publisher like Little, Brown or something, and has 20 years of experience in acquisitions, then maybe you take that criticism to heart. Maybe.

But if the "someone from your life" is just a random shmuck who likely hasn't the foggiest clue how to spell "Pulitzer," and has even less likely ever tried to do something as consequential and difficult as draft a novel, then you can take the criticism for what it's worth: exactly the smoke blown out the ass of someone who has no business having an opinion on what you're doing.

I just read (after receiving a rejection for a WIP I'm querying) that the best response to a rejection of your writing is to write more, and write better. Sounds like that's what you're doing, Lily -- good for you.

Good for you. I have a friend who thinks he's being helpful too by saying stuff like only 28k, month's almost over you know, and you'd get done much faster if you typed stuff in instead of handwriting it all. Ever hear of this writer, he types everything, putting out books all the time. You just ignore it and keep being your wonderful self.

I'm with everyone else, rock on Lily! *makes traditional celebratory devil horns with fingers and raises them in Lily's honor*

I think I have been getting crap for my writing since I can remember. On the whole I have the types who say "Oh! That's.....very nice" when I tell them I'm working on a novel (NaNo or otherwise), but I've had plenty of others who won't shirk at telling me they think it's a waste of time, or that I'm fooling myself, or that I can't be that bright if I pursue something so pointless and non-lucrative. I also get plenty who act as if writing is easy, never mind they've never tried it themselves.

Everyone is a critic and a wise person once said that opinions are like assholes; everyone's got one and they all stink. Constructive criticism is like an art form and not a whole hell of a lot of people have a knack for it (at least, in my experience they don't). A lot of the time criticisms come from people who just want to devalue something, put it beneath themselves in order to bolster their own ego, or they just want to prod something they don't understand. That says more about them than it does about anyone on the receiving end. Constructive critics might tell you stuff that's hard to hear, but they want to help BUILD something with you. Other critics just want to tear it all down. Again, someone once told me criticisms like that reflect a lot more about the person dishing them out than it being any kind of honest reflection of me, and that stuck with me.

People LOVE their art museums, their Kindles and their collections of books, they love going to the movies, they love downloading iTunes and buying tickets to concerts. They spend billions of dollars on these things every year but rarely do many stop and examine where all of this stuff comes from. I have never quite understood that disconnect myself, how so many people can be so enamored with art and yet be so derisive towards those who devote themselves to creating it. I wonder if they think there are just people out there who were BORN with publishing deals and recording contracts in their pockets or something. They're like "Hey! THAT GUY has a poster and a book with his face on it at B&N!!! YOU don't have those things so what you're doing is just a waste of time!".

I worked in film making for a few years and damn, the crap I got for it! Then one of the films I worked on was showcased at the local film festival and shown drive-in style in a downtown parking lot. They listed my name and info about the movie in a bunch of local papers and suddenly, I was getting phone calls and people were all excited. That is JUST the nature of the beast it seems. When I needed extras, when I needed help with transportation and props, when I needed moral support during script doctoring and filming, people just pretended it wasn't happening but when it wound up in the paper, apparently I was an interesting genius overnight. (then when nothing came of that festival, they started ignoring me again soon enough, haha)

Just roll with it! There ARE people out there who love and appreciate the creative process for exactly what it is without dissecting the crap out of every move you make. It's not about contracts and raking in billions of dollars, it sounds cliche but it's a calling and it's a passion. It's just something we HAVE to do, and by obeying that creative call you truly are being responsible toward yourself no matter what other people might think or say. I really believe that if you ignore a creative passion it's tantamount to denying who you are and it can be so destructive.

A lot of folks see responsibility as "work, pay bills, make wise financial choices, create thriving social circle" and so on. Those things are 100% valid too, but they're not the ONLY responsibilities some of us have. Some of us have a responsibility to make time to express our creative passions, because they're just like all those other responsibilities in that we will suffer if we don't step up to the plate. Large portions of society have a way of dismissing all of it, but there are communities of folks who KNOW.

We KNOW Lily! And it's awesome you could take those feelings and channel them into your creativity. You've reminded me that I have to remember to keep doing that myself, using what I experience to the full and allowing that stuff to be part of my voice. Thank you for that my chica!

I hope you put your blog back up.

I haven't put the blog back up. I'll blog after I'm done with NaNo. My writing has taken off as have the ideas in my head. I think, when I'm finished, I'll find a way to bind it myself and send it gift-wrapped to him for Christmas. :)

I love the encouragement you all have offered and I'm glad my experience served as a reminder to some some of you. Words are powerful. You can tell someone you love them and an entire relationship dynamic can change. You can tell someone their outfit looks "OK" and strike the confidence they were feeling. The trick will always be for people to feel what they feel on their own, without any outside influence, and be firm in their beliefs and feelings. It's not easy.

I haven't written anything before. I haven't faced any criticism with regards to something I have created before. This is new territory for me. I like what I have written. I like it enough that I want people to read it - under a pen name and anonymously of course , but I'm proud of the work and of myself. No words will take that away.

That's lousy,Lily.
I've blogged my Nanos also. I've gotten good feedback, but it's mostly friends anyways. but still...
Exactly Lily. You're proud of it and you like it and that's all that matters.