The Lady or the Tiger
February 20, 2000
9:30 a.m.
Yesterday's mail brought news that my story "A Matter of Pride" is in Analog's April issue. Very cool, of course. For anyone interested, I've updated my bibliography to reflect this. Brigid and I went to Bloomington yesterday. I met with a couple writers, and Brigid went to have pizza with a couple of other girls. It's a strange feeling to give your daughter money and send her away telling her to "bring me back the change." Anyway, we ended up talking about whether you should write to a market or not--which, of course, is an interesting question. I think the answer lies in how you see your goals. I find that most new writers haven't determined what their goals are, and this always bothers me about these kind of religious discussions about writers and how we should do what we do. If you don't know what you want to create, how can you possibly make it happen? There are hundreds of "right" answers to this type of question because there are hundreds of goals. But once you look into your soul and decide what your goals really are, the options slim down considerably. If you honestly don't care if you sell your work, you are then free to write any danged thing that you want. Of course, you expose yourself to callous writers (like myself sometimes) who couldn't possibly understand your motivation. But if that's what you're doing, you can afford a loose perspective on the markets. Once you use the term, "sell" in there someplace, though, it takes you to a different plane of thought. When you are a new writer you have an advantage. That advantage is that you can write any danged thing you want--and I think you should because then you'll be more interested in the writing and do abetter job of learning. But writing to a market means a lot more than deciding what magazine your work might best fit into. Writing to a market means, first and foremost, writing clearly and to where a general reading public might be able to make out exactly what you're saying. The more weight the word "sell" has in your dreams (for whatever reason) the more important this is. Same with productivity. Successful sellers produce a moderate amount of material. We talked for awhile about the question, if you had your choice would you rather be known for a single incredible work, or a collection of pretty okay work. This is always an interesting discussion--kind of a "lady or the tiger" thing. Which one would you choose? I thought about it for a few minutes. I've asked myself as to whether I write for markets or not, and I'm generally lukewarm on the question because my goal is to be both artistically and financially successful in the field. But like I sy, I've thought about it a lot--too much, actually--because I don't think I've ever been able to answer this question in a way that satistifes me totally. But as I thought about it, something hit me. Why do we even bother to ask this question? This really struck me, and in an instant, I had my answer. You see, when I ask myself this type of question, I generally want to get something out of it. By that, I mean I want the answer to affect the way I approach my writing. I don't enjoy discussions about writing merely for the entertainment value. If I'm going to spend my time talking about writing, I want to learn something, and I want to be able to apply it. While discussing this question yesterday, I realized something important. I would write exactly the same way regardless of whether I was trying to create a body of work or a single classic. I would write with whatever of a collection of processes as fit my mood that day, because I know the important thing about creation is not how good or bad it is that day, but that it get done. I would look at what I had done with a sharp of a discerning eye as I could, and do my best to get rid of weaknesses and flaws. And I would stick with it every day, knowing tha genius only shows up when it is actually applied to a page. You see--at some level, the question just doesn't matter because in either situation, you've had to make an assumption that your work is read by a LOT of people. That most likely means your work will have to sell. And that's the line you have to cross one way or the other. So, don't sweat it. The lady and the tiger are one and the same. Work hard. Have fun. Be bold enough to know what you want, and don't waste time on things that don't matter. Things will work out.  Just don't send an Analog story to MZB, okay? Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
|
BACK TO 
|