I recently received a review in which the reviewer scathingly researched how many times I wrote the word "said." This was tempered with another recent review where the reader hated the first two books in the same series, liked the third, and for the fourth gave a raving five-star review.
My point being that reviews don't matter. Sales don't matter (but of course they do help keep the lights on). The only thing that matters is that you find elation in what you do. Pride, perhaps even a taste of rapture. I loved writing the series I just mentioned, and it being my first toe dipped into the water of publishing, it was the first time I felt absolute joy in my work. The fact that, almost five years after the fact, that people are still reading, still debating, still feeling so passionately about the characters in said books, well that speaks to the power of story.
Go forth in the coming year without thinking about readers, without worrying about sales or reviews or how something will be received. The world has changed, literature has changed, but good writing, unique writing and delight in the craft will always be in our lives as human beings. Embrace the change, follow your characters down their respective rabbit holes (no matter how weird things get or how deep and scary, for in fear there is beauty). Writers are the portents to the future and we can show future generations that in the midst of chaos, we made art. In the midst of despair, we wrote of hope and love and adventure, and yes, we wrote deliciously of fear and terror.
As we set forth into a new year, let us make art that speaks to our souls. This is the art that will speak to the souls of generations to come. So when our grandchildren say, "Well, what did you do?" we can proudly say, "We made ugliness beautiful and thus created hope in the world."
(This post originally appeared on Facebook)
My point being that reviews don't matter. Sales don't matter (but of course they do help keep the lights on). The only thing that matters is that you find elation in what you do. Pride, perhaps even a taste of rapture. I loved writing the series I just mentioned, and it being my first toe dipped into the water of publishing, it was the first time I felt absolute joy in my work. The fact that, almost five years after the fact, that people are still reading, still debating, still feeling so passionately about the characters in said books, well that speaks to the power of story.
Go forth in the coming year without thinking about readers, without worrying about sales or reviews or how something will be received. The world has changed, literature has changed, but good writing, unique writing and delight in the craft will always be in our lives as human beings. Embrace the change, follow your characters down their respective rabbit holes (no matter how weird things get or how deep and scary, for in fear there is beauty). Writers are the portents to the future and we can show future generations that in the midst of chaos, we made art. In the midst of despair, we wrote of hope and love and adventure, and yes, we wrote deliciously of fear and terror.
As we set forth into a new year, let us make art that speaks to our souls. This is the art that will speak to the souls of generations to come. So when our grandchildren say, "Well, what did you do?" we can proudly say, "We made ugliness beautiful and thus created hope in the world."
(This post originally appeared on Facebook)
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