Writing Life
Recently it dawned on me that lots of women who write romance or dream of writing romance have other priorities. The dream of writing is appealing and real, but for reasons as individual as the women themselves, they make only small efforts toward realizing the dream.
In short they don't take their writing seriously, and neither does anyone else. In real life I'm a shy writer. I don't tell everyone I know about my writing ambitions. But I'm plenty serious about them. This my character. This setting of goals and working toward them, and revising, and adjusting as reality forces new constraints on my dreams.
Strangely enough, I don't believe in a world of perfect justice where the most talented or the hardest working reap the greatest rewards. Luck is a capricious bitch. If I'm ever offered a choice between luck and any other attribute, I'll go for luck. Despite this cynicism, I do believe chance favors the prepared, the diligent, and the persistent.
So how do you feel about ambition? Are nice women ambitious? Do the good finish last? Or is it okay to be driven? Is success scary? Go ahead and share - I won't tell anyone. :)
In short they don't take their writing seriously, and neither does anyone else. In real life I'm a shy writer. I don't tell everyone I know about my writing ambitions. But I'm plenty serious about them. This my character. This setting of goals and working toward them, and revising, and adjusting as reality forces new constraints on my dreams.
Strangely enough, I don't believe in a world of perfect justice where the most talented or the hardest working reap the greatest rewards. Luck is a capricious bitch. If I'm ever offered a choice between luck and any other attribute, I'll go for luck. Despite this cynicism, I do believe chance favors the prepared, the diligent, and the persistent.
So how do you feel about ambition? Are nice women ambitious? Do the good finish last? Or is it okay to be driven? Is success scary? Go ahead and share - I won't tell anyone. :)
posted by Evanne Lorraine at 10:59 AM
6 Comments:
Since I'm a mixture of idealist and realist, I choose to believe whatever makes me feel better at the time.
Hard work pays off. It does. No, not every time. But diligence wins in the end more often than apathy.
I'll take diligence and a whopping dose of luck, thank you...:)
Sheila (I forgot what my account is)
A pragmatist! That surprises me I had you labeled starry-eyed optimist. :)
I know you have the dillegence - you're due for the luck. Anyday now actually. . . :)
Sometimes I fear I've become too ambitious. I've always been goal-driven, but it's gotten to a point where people who *aren't* pursuing a goal tend to annoy me. LOL That sounds mean, but really, life is so short, and it makes me sad to see people let the days go by without trying to follow their dreams.
I completely agree that, unfortunately, there's no automatic justice in the world. Bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Some people are born with the ability to eat cheesecake for breakfast and still wear a size 2. Phooey on all that! LOL
I can actually here bouncing in your posts - is this all the effects of GH + triple lattes or do I just think that because I live in Seattle? LOL
Interesting question. I believe in luck, but that it can only take you so far. Too many people have luck poured on them, but they lose the opportunities because they weren't prepared. So I believe that "luck is when preparation meets opportunity" thing.
Which means you can't get anywhere with one or the other. When it comes to writing, I know too many very talented writers still unpublished. The luck (right story to right editor at right time) hasn't crossed their path yet. I don't know about the flipside of that equation. I guess it would be people who come up with great ideas but never seem to finish anything. Those are the right story, right time, right editor type people who don't have the book to peddle.
Does that make any sense? LOL!
Great topic BTW!
Lori,
You always make great sense. Of course both talent, determination and luck are needed.
Your comments reminded me of something I read in RWR recently. Laura Shin (Superromance editor) commented that she is still waiting for fulls she requested from contests she judged years ago.
When I worked in the corporate world and hired I was always amazed by the applicants that would simply fail to show for an interview. The concept of ignoring opportunity's knock is one I've never understood.
Thanks for stopping by.
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