Writing aspirations/dreams

Wikipedia is bizarrely difficult to get into.
I've been professionally published for 22 years and have 13 novels to my name, one reviewed in the Grauniad - but when my editor put me forward they said no.
What's an author gotta do? :D
I might turn them down if they ever said yes. :D

Yeah, I'm past that now honestly, and mini wikis are good enough. It will be like an underground network of wikipedias eventually.

Then they will have macro wikis.:LOL:
 
Now that fame has been mentioned, I'll ammend my first post and add that I would love to keep myself away from the spotlight. Use a pen name, not have to show up at signings and events... So I guess being good enough to let a publisher let me get away with this would be ideal. I'm quite a private person.
 
I'm with Ihe here. As prolific and private as someone like Greg Egan, say. Unfortunately, the market just doesn't work like that. The author is as much a brand as their product these days.
 
I've had the same thing with Wikipedia. I get the feeling that they are rather strange people.

I also agree with Ihe. I grew up pre-internet, and I'd like to live like that. Signings and events are fine, because if you are a private sort of person, like me, you can switch it on and off as you like. It's the continuous engagement that I don't like, the idea that at any moment you have to be doing something cool or photogenic.
 
the idea that at any moment you have to be doing something cool or photogenic.

Or posting your meals on Instagram. I mean, WTH?? As someone who lives a pretty much post-food existence, I also lack the energy to get to conferences and interact in an intelligent way.
 
I have noticed that quite a few authors tend to be more introverted and private. I seem to buck that trend. I am one of a handful of people who actually enjoys public speaking, having a booth at conferences, and mingling with people on a regular basis. In my regular life and given name (Joshua Jones is my SF pen name), I am an outreach and development guy at a non-profit, so that sort of thing is literally my day job. So, I don't mind being in the spotlight, but I am skeptical that I will ever be.
 
I just want to say thanks to Jo for making this thread. I hadn't really considered what I wanted until now. Sure, I have dreamt of stardom and all that, but not really thought it over. Wanting to write is personal for me, and it may well change, but for now I rather want to produce a small amount of well written work rather than a large amount of mediocre stuff. It has been good to get that kind of clarification, and it has helped me focus better.
 
I just want to say thanks to Jo for making this thread. I hadn't really considered what I wanted until now. Sure, I have dreamt of stardom and all that, but not really thought it over. Wanting to write is personal for me, and it may well change, but for now I rather want to produce a small amount of well written work rather than a large amount of mediocre stuff. It has been good to get that kind of clarification, and it has helped me focus better.
I always find the replies make me consider my own motivation - all good. :D

As to extrovert/introverts, I definitely fall into the extrovert category. It means I mostly have a blast at conventions and the like. I get very nervous about panels etc but love doing them once forced up onto the stage. I'm not keen on public readings (but getting better all the time) but will chat and network all day long. I just have so much fun being the writer-me, who is much larger than life and less shy than the real me. :)
 
Ask not what your writing can do for you, but what you can do for your writing.
Sorry, cross posts. I think in asking what your aspirations are you are giving yourself the motivation to ask what you can do for your wriitng. If we apply some of the extrinsic theories of motivation without the internal impetus and the rewards that actually matter to us as a possible outcome, we struggle to stay motivated.
 
Oh, I think asking is good - it's just that I came to this industry with so many misconceptions that I've realized it's probably best not to expect anything, and just focus on getting writing done. For me, now, in this time, anyway. :)
 
For me it's not a matter of being intoverted or extroverted, particularly. I actually quite enjoy conventions and panels, because you get a chance to discuss writing with enthusiastic, knowledgeable people. It's more about being able to switch it all off: to be able to step back and say "I'm doing stuff that isn't relevant to me as an author now". And I don't think that people want that, or at least are told not to expect it. Once again, I am glad that I don't write YA, as the pressure seems to be greater there (although I might be wrong).

The other thing is that I can't imagine not writing. Writing forms a sort of continual conversation with myself, like having a kind of imaginary friend. The books I've written have been fun but, in a veiled way, they've talked about things I wanted to discuss, and as such must act as a way of processing real life. So I guess it would be an aspiration to continue to write, for that reason.
 
For me it's not a matter of being intoverted or extroverted, particularly. I actually quite enjoy conventions and panels, because you get a chance to discuss writing with enthusiastic, knowledgeable people. It's more about being able to switch it all off

The trouble I would run into is that I am enthusiastic about going and doing and will make plans easily, then when the time comes to actually do it I curse myself for having committed to doing it.
 
Introverted and proud. I love social gatherings but only if there's a flower on the wall for me to hide behind.

However, as a result of writing I have read out my own stuff to others and now help out with a young writers group.

It would be good to meet up with some other Chrons folk but I'd probably end up sitting at a nearby table in hat, long coat and sunglasses.
 
I think the notion that writers are excentric neurotic loners has somewhat diminished with the social media "singularity". There are more chances now to be seen and heard outside your art, dispelling the shroud of mystery. And it also motivates that being a people person nowadays is a biiiig bonus for marketing and brand recognition.
 
I think the notion that writers are excentric neurotic loners has somewhat diminished with the social media "singularity". There are more chances now to be seen and heard outside your art, dispelling the shroud of mystery. And it also motivates that being a people person nowadays is a biiiig bonus for marketing and brand recognition.

I'm 'insert expletive here' then.
 

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