Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: tired
  • Music: Tricky Pixie rehearsing in the next room.

3 myths about writing.

Just three days remain before the official North American release of A Local Habitation [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy], which has been cropping up in stores around the US as we get closer and closer to release day. It's been fun, in that way of things that are both glorious and flat-out terrifying. Whee!

In honor of day three, and because I am a predictable creature, I give you today's entry in the countdown. Enjoy.

3 Myths About Writing.

3. Writing is easy. After all, we all have ideas, and we're all smart people, so we should all be able to write books, right? Sadly, this is not the case. Writing may be easy, but writing well is damn hard, and even with as much practice as I've had, I'm constantly aware of how much more practice I need if I want to get really good. Whoever first said that it was ten percent inspiration, ninety percent perspiration was very right. This does not relieve my urge to punch them in the nose.

2. All real writers are inaccessible and intellectually difficult. I periodically get people asking me when I'll stop writing to "what's hot" and start writing what's in my heart. You know what? My heart is full of fairy tales and zombies and blonde girls in high heels kicking monsters in the head. My heart is full of snappy dialog and cinematic tropes and screams in the muggy summer air. I am a real writer. It's just that what I really want to write about is occasionally the Fighting Pumpkins cheer squad, a hitchhiking ghost with a thing for cheeseburgers, and genetically engineered parasites. And that's okay.

1. Good writing will always be recognized. Sadly, this is also not true. There are a lot of books released every year, and a great many of them will be excellent, yet somehow manage to go essentially unnoticed by most of the reading public. This is a crying shame. This is the fear of every working author, at least at the beginning of their careers, because what if you do the best you can do, what if you're hailed as an amazement and a rediscovery of the written word...and you fail anyway? This is why authors are a little bit crazy. Be kind.
Tags: contemplation, making lists, writing
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  • 37 comments

moshez

February 27 2010, 21:41:59 UTC 7 years ago

Re: inspiration/perspiration -- it was Edison, and please, please punch him in the nose. We will all stand up and salute you. He was an annoying man.

seanan_mcguire

February 27 2010, 23:09:41 UTC 7 years ago

Yessir!

alicetheowl

February 27 2010, 23:35:29 UTC 7 years ago

Best I can do is go yell at the GE plot where he invented a lot of his stuff. Or shout at his colleagues' graves.

But not right now, because it's cold and dark out there.