October 26, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
My friend Shell sent me a link to Salon.com with an interview on Stephen King discussing the 30th anniversary of The Stand. Some interesting stuff there, especially about how the situation in the seventies now mirrors the present (fuel crisis, an unpopular war, funky economy, etc.), and a comment from King comparing Sarah Palin to Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone. Niiiice.
Also, I think I forgot to report an interview I did with Nick Mamatas about Spicy Slipstream Stories, an anthology he edited with Jay Lake. Featuring a free story by E. Sedia , so be sure to check it out.
And finally, thanks to A.J. Brown for the very kind name-drop in his latest essay for the Horror Library, entitled “A Miserable Lot of Complainers We Are.”
Even though I take a certain pride in not complaining about other authors who are better than me, or authors who are doing better than me in the wacky world of publishing, it shouldn’t be said that I’m some sort of saint.
I don’t preach a New Age-y message of love among fellow writers. I believe that complaining hinders things in general, but especially in the world of writing. So why do we do it? (Because although I don’t do it often, and never online, I do my own share of bitching.) For the most part, I think it has to do with insecurities. Since most of the complainers aim their cannons at the successful authors, it’s kind of hard to not view their jibes as sour grapes, jealousy, etc. And although I have my own grumblings, I can say with complete honesty that I’ve never bitched about another writer being better than me, or another writer getting a sweet book deal even though my work is clearly so much better than theirs.
I simply don’t view myself as being in competition with other writers. Maybe I should, but I don’t. When I see a writer I know cracking a market that has given me nothing but form rejections, my first response has never been, Damn, how could they get accepted and not me. It’s just not the kind of thing that concerns me. In terms of publishing, you can’t waste your time worrying about “the other guy.” You will go insane if you do because there are so freaking many of them, and what they are doing has absolutely nothing to do with what you are doing. The only person you should be in competition with is yourself.
Speaking of fellow writers, I had a nice chat today in Bowmanville with a couple of excellent up-and-coming authors, Tiffany Maxwell and Shayne Winters. I always enjoy getting together with fellow writers, mostly because I get to do so only on rare occasions. I come away from these meetings feeling recharged. So thanks, ladies. Hope you had a good time, too.
Though I certainly don’t advocate taking other’s successes too close to heart, I think it’s understandable — and perhaps natural — for writer to feel this way. I’d argue that to be a writer with any sort of success requires one to think his or her work is better than anyone else’s. It’s this belief in one’s own abilities that makes the attempt to succeed worthwhile. If I didn’t think my work was better than most of my contemporaries — even contemporaries I like both as people and as writers — I’d probably have given up a long time ago. That isn’t to say my ego is huge, rather that I have confidence in my own work stacked up against almost anything else the literary world has to offer — I have to feel that way in order to continue. A by-product of that confidence is that sometimes there’s a sense of disappointment when another gets something for which I’ve worked hard and failed to acquire. What’s meaningful isn’t that you, as an author, don’t feel these twinges (as they are normal) but rather how you act on them. If you can keep your head level and understand that you haven’t failed, only that someone else has had success, and that there is still time for you to do the same, you’ll remain a much happier writer.
Yeah, I don’t hold much against writers who complain — at least to a certain point. Complaining about another writer’s success is hard to sympathize with, since there’s nothing you can do about it. I can understand reading a book you don’t like and wondering how the writer managed to sell it, but I guess I just assume that someone must have liked it, and it’s not like my taste is going to match everyone else’s.
I have confidence in my own work, and while I certainly feel it is better than that of some other writers I know (and some I don’t), it’s not really the thing that drives me. But I can certainly see your point: if I thought my work wasn’t as good, then I might not be bothering at all. A writer must think his/her work is good or else they wouldn’t be writing in the first place. In theory, anyway. :)
“So thanks, ladies. Hope you had a good time, too.”
Meh. Beat alphabetizing my tea box.
(I’m kidding, it was a delight. We’ll hang out again. That’s an order.)
And by “I’m kidding”, I also meant that it wasn’t quite as fun as alphabetizing my tea box.
No worries. I have to alphabetize both my tea box and my various coffees. And now that we’re getting into eggnog season, I have to also organize my various nogs. The holidays are such a chore…
Ian , You are a funny guy.You should really diversify and write more humour. Horror and humour together ,that’s the ticket. I remember seeing “Alien” in the movie theatre when it first came out. Pretty darn scary! The scene where all the crew are having dinner with the unfortunate crew member who had that thing on he’s face ,well,when that alien popped out of his chest the whole audience was screaming.The guy behind us said rather calmly “That’s the last time I’m having tuna”,everyone in ear shot started laughing.People ,screaming and laughing at the same time , what a sight!
Enjoy your horror writing but also your funny side.
Horror and humour often good side by side, that’s for sure. One of my favourite horror movies is Black Christmas (filmed near York University in Toronto), and there’s quite a bit of humour throughout what is otherwise a fairly frightening film. I think it’s because a giggle or too puts the audience at ease and makes them ripe for the scares to follow.
Alien is another one of my favourites. It was actually the very first movie I ever saw on VHS, which tells you what kind of upbringing I had.
I like to think I have a good sense of humour, and you’re not the first person to tell me I should try my hand at comedies. I’ve actually written a few comedy short stories that I’m currently flogging around, some with supernatural/fantasy elements, some straight mainstream tales. Only sold one to date, and that was “The Kid Pool,” which is a very old story, which is my way of saying I’ve written better ones since then.