Telling me what to write
Every writer talks about the person who comes up with the idea and wants you to write it for them.
I've had that happen to me. It's easy to say no to that. I do it all the time. The person walks away disappointed because now they have to do the work, but otherwise, no harm done.
I've started to get a different kind of request. It's the "You should write..." request. It's not so much an idea, but a genre or type of novel. People usually get the idea from seeing someone else being successful with it, and immediately think of their friend, co-worker, next door neighbor, or any writer they know.
And they just HAVE to tell 'em.
"I just heard about so and so. He wrote a this--self published it, got noticed and got a huge deal! And a book deal!"
or
"You do such a great job talking about so and so. You're funny! You should write a book about it!"
Now usually it's something I've considered and either put on the back burner until I'm done writing what I'm writing. Or something I've thought about and thought--No, that's not me. I can't do that well enough to make it worth my time.
I don't know really how to respond to these people. I usually give them a quick, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
But that's never enough. They respond, "No. I'm serious."
"Okay, I'll consider it."
"You'd be good at it. It'd be BIG!"
"Okay thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
"No. I'm serious. You have such a way with words you should do it."
"Thanks."
"I'm serious."
I try to be polite... but here's what I really want to say:
NO! LET ME WRITE WHAT I WANT TO WRITE! I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE BOOK I'M WORKING ON FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS! I WANT TO DO IT WELL. I AM HAVING FUN WITH IT! IT'S MY IDEA, MY BOOK, AND THERE'S NO HELP FROM YOU! I HAVE TO AT LEAST TRY WHAT I WANT TO DO AND YOU SHOULD RESPECT ME ENOUGH TO DO THAT! WHAT YOU MENTIONED--I'VE THOUGHT OF THAT! I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THAT AND I THINK, IN TIME, I'LL GET TO IT! BUT THAT'S NOT BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR IDEA. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING YOU SAID.
LET ME BE!
Phew. That felt good to get out... narcissitic or not.
I'm serious.
I've had that happen to me. It's easy to say no to that. I do it all the time. The person walks away disappointed because now they have to do the work, but otherwise, no harm done.
I've started to get a different kind of request. It's the "You should write..." request. It's not so much an idea, but a genre or type of novel. People usually get the idea from seeing someone else being successful with it, and immediately think of their friend, co-worker, next door neighbor, or any writer they know.
And they just HAVE to tell 'em.
"I just heard about so and so. He wrote a this--self published it, got noticed and got a huge deal! And a book deal!"
or
"You do such a great job talking about so and so. You're funny! You should write a book about it!"
Now usually it's something I've considered and either put on the back burner until I'm done writing what I'm writing. Or something I've thought about and thought--No, that's not me. I can't do that well enough to make it worth my time.
I don't know really how to respond to these people. I usually give them a quick, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
But that's never enough. They respond, "No. I'm serious."
"Okay, I'll consider it."
"You'd be good at it. It'd be BIG!"
"Okay thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
"No. I'm serious. You have such a way with words you should do it."
"Thanks."
"I'm serious."
I try to be polite... but here's what I really want to say:
NO! LET ME WRITE WHAT I WANT TO WRITE! I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE BOOK I'M WORKING ON FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS! I WANT TO DO IT WELL. I AM HAVING FUN WITH IT! IT'S MY IDEA, MY BOOK, AND THERE'S NO HELP FROM YOU! I HAVE TO AT LEAST TRY WHAT I WANT TO DO AND YOU SHOULD RESPECT ME ENOUGH TO DO THAT! WHAT YOU MENTIONED--I'VE THOUGHT OF THAT! I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THAT AND I THINK, IN TIME, I'LL GET TO IT! BUT THAT'S NOT BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR IDEA. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING YOU SAID.
LET ME BE!
Phew. That felt good to get out... narcissitic or not.
I'm serious.
posted by Dave White at 8:00 AM
4 Comments:
I've gotten that a few times too. Not that I'm published or anything, but when I get around to writing, I get "oh, you should do this, you should write that." What a pain in the ass. I know those people are trying to be helpful, but it's really just bothersome.
Here's something for you: I've never had this happen to me. When I say that my day job is a technical writer, I almost always get the "The why can't you write my manuals so that I can understand them?" Buy a server from HP and you will. But when I say I'm also a writer/author, I get the impressed look.
You should write a blog telling us how you feel... I think you'd find it theraputic.
Jaymar
Jaymar - you have such incite!
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