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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Feeling my age

I'm 21 years old...and feeling it, y'all.

I don't bitch about a lot of things, but dayum...it's tough to be so young with some of these established (older) writers.

If you're under 25 and wanting to publish something, a lot of other writers will just shove you in a corner, pat you on the head and say: "Well, isn't that cute? Now sit down and shut up while the grownups are talking."

UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!


Granted, because of my age, I haven't been publishing for very long, and I don't claim to be a "prodigy"...so I don't have a lot of "credits" under my belt just yet. But an older writer (say someone in their 30s or 40s) with the same number of credits (if not less) has more "weight" or "status" than I do just because of their age!

I mean wtf?!

It's like...because I'm young, there's this assumption I'm somehow more "unpolished" and "immature" than everybody else in the room. Seriously, that shit gets old after a while (no pun intended) and I'm tired of hearing about it on some of the forums I frequent. Nobody is any more "talented" than anyone else based solely on their age alone! I mean, come on! Talented writers come from all walks of life, young and old, black and white, male and female, rich and poor, etc.

There really is an "elitist" attitude in some writing/publishing circles. I'm so sick of the "genre vs. literary" debate...I could just throw up. It's a bit like high school all over again. Everyone is in their little clique and no one wants to accept "outsiders" or help anyone else but themselves.

We're all writers. We all share the same dream of "making it big" and getting published. The odds are so stacked against us too! So why can't we just be happy for a fellow writer when someone does well? Why does it have to turn into a big cat fight?

I just don't get it. And it's really starting to irritate me.

2 comments:

SheReads said...

Well I'm going to turn the big 5-uh oh in May and a lot of the circles I ran in had authors who were in the 20's to early 30's. You would think this means that there would be some maturity and respect but you hit the nail on the head; in literary circles it often is a big circle jerk of people who only look out for those in their "clique". It IS high school all over again!

I've actually suffered a different form of criticism. I used to model, and I've remained very youthful and well I'm from Jersey, the land of big hair, acrylic nails, and stilletto heels. (And I've got big boobs!) I've actually had certain people make broad assumptions about my intelligence and also made some catty remarks about how I planned on using my looks and sexuality to open doors in the publishing world!

I even had one particular nasty person say that the reason a certain publisher paid all of my expenses to attend a certain convention was because we had a thing going on. Because of this, I lost my cool and lashed out at some people. This ultimately caused me to walk away from everyone and anyone who chooses to be a part of that circle of friends. I will not name names, but it was a result of petty jealousy and back biting that I walk alone now and refuse to kiss ass in order to play the game that so many other authors feel they need to in order to be accepted and successful.

THINK. It is the consumers who read your work. They are the ultimate judges, not other authors. You do not need validation from other writers in order to become a successful writer yourself. It's nice to have encouragement from your peers, but who are they to stand in judgement of you? I use to worry about what other writers thought of my work. Now I know the only criticisms I need to worry about come from the people who actually buy and read my work.

Vegetarian Cannibal said...

Thanks Robin. As always, your words of wisdom and kindness continue to inspire me. I spent a few days thinking about what you said...had to take a break. But I'm back now and ready to kick ass!

:D Thank you!

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