No Right or Wrong: Finding Your Own Way
Jen Kirchner· March 16, 2011· [writing] #humor
Over the internet's relatively short life, I've learned a few truths about it:
It's awesome for video and tabletop gaming with friends all over the world
It's optimal for solo, clandestine, adult adventures in the dark (or so I hear)
It's the ideal place to share awesome advice and insight from the heart, only to be told that you're a clueless moron who should give up their aspirations and dreams and remove themselves from the gene pool, stat.
No one really has time for me to yammer on and on and on about number one. No one wants to hear me awkwardly try to explain what little I know about number two (you know I'm incapable of writing romance and erotica -- especially if I'm prohibited from adding explosions and ninjas). So let's go with door number three.
In the creative world, there's a process for every craft. Think of it as a large, square map. Everyone starts in the top, left corner. Everyone crosses the finish line at the bottom right. Between those two points are a massive tangle of roads, parks, aqueducts, flight paths, subways and bicycle routes.
So which way do we go?
The fact is, everyone's process is different. Your method might be the strict triathlon of a trained athlete (run, swim, bike) while someone in your close circle is a little more Grand Theft Auto (beat the crap out of a few people, hijack a taxi and mow down half the landscape).
Not only is everyone's method personal, it will continue to evolve as they get stronger in their craft. I look back on what my process was like when I first decided to seriously pursue writing -- and it looks nothing like it does now. Even when I did things that could be considered wrong, it was part of my journey. It's like being a teenager. Everyone has to do stupid things in order to be better.
So what I'm wondering is: Why are we all jumping at the first chance to tell newbies that they're wrong? Isn't it a little discouraging? I mean, I'm glad we're so passionate about what we do and how we do it, but this is starting to be a little much.
Naturally, I read a lot of agent and author blogs -- but I'm a lurker. I'm not much of a commenter. This week, one of the posts I saw was an anonymous question to an agent. I won't get into the details, but I could tell this person was a very new writer and I decided I wanted to comment. So I click out of my reader and into this blog. And I must say I was kind of miffed at some of the harsh, "know-it-all" responses. Some of them were a little mean. I can't imagine how I would feel if those comments were directed at me.
So my question is: Isn't it good to let people take what they think is a shortcut or let them cut through a park or get into a little fender-bender? If it inspires them to write and be better every day, then I say no harm no foul.
Keep at it. I'm in your corner.