Have you all seen that commercial? Where the guy asks the
little kids if two is better than one and more is better than less. And the
little girl tries to explain why more is better. And it basically boils down to…
I want more…I want more….
That’s what I want for my writing career. The other night I
tried to think about what that meant. Is it money? Sure. Who wouldn’t want more
money? Is it fame? I don’t know about fame, but I do like the idea of respect.
Of people being able to see my name and recognize that I’m a writer. Is it
popularity? Maybe. There is this idea that there is a club of writers that
everyone knows and you want to be in that club.
I remember last year going to the RITA/Goldenheart reception
and seeing all these crazy talented writers sitting together at a table and thinking…
wow, I don’t really belong here. But instinctively I wanted to feel
differently. I wanted to feel as if I could sit at that table.
But really at the core of what “more” is… I just like the
idea of more people reading my books. Lots of readers who read them, hopefully
enjoy them. Maybe even talk about them.
I was thinking about how that is … I don’t know…. selfish,
or self-indulgent or obnoxious. (Because as women we have this crazy mechanism
that tells us being ambitious is somehow unladylike… read Lean In by Sheryl
Sandberg if you don’t believe me.) But then I realized that no, wanting more
people to read my books is completely normal. Because I’m a storyteller. Not
all people in the world are storytellers, but the ones that are out there want
to tell stories and more importantly we want listeners/readers to hear our
stories, to read our stories.
So I want more…. More readers to read the stories I make up.
I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t want that.
What about you as writers or readers… what “more” do you
want?
4 comments:
Definitely more readers and more money, which I'm pretty sure are inextricably tied together.
The more question is also inextricably tied to my decision to go back to school, though. I want more of my life to be centered on writing. I want 'writer' to be more of my identity.
I want the same things. Totally. Whether it's lady like or not.
And maybe this is slightly off topic, but I get so annoyed at the people out there (many of them writers themselves) who say that the act of creation, the process itself, should be its own reward.
These days, this most often comes up in discussions about copyright protection and book pirating.
It's as if these people don't believe we can have both. That we can get pleasure from the act of creating, but also gain satisfaction from the knowledge that a lot of people enjoy what we create and... actually put food on our plates and a roof over our house. Yes we can! ;)
True that, Maureen! The joy of creativity doesn't pay my mortgage. Royalties do.
Great post, Steph, and you're right, it's Ok to verbalize what we want. Without acknowledging it, how can you properly go after it.
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