Writers and Writing rather than Reading
Sep. 16th, 2009 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerBetween Josh Olson and John Scalzi, one might think that writers hate everyone who has ever asked them for a favor. I can tell you that this is not true. But they have valid points.
If you don’t know what I am talking about here are the two articles that were recently published and made the rounds of the Internet.
Mr. Olsen’s contribution is I will not read your “bad word” script
Mr. Scalzi’s contribution is On the Asking of Favors from Established Writers
Peter is asked a lot for a small favor. If he agreed to them all, he would have no time to write. If he doesn’t write, then he doesn’t get paid. So harsh as it may sound, he doesn’t do many cover blurbs or reviews for other people’s work.
Personally I owe two people critiques (that being my sister Sheila and my friend Susan) and have for about a year now. I will have some time to sit down and work on those soon.
So honestly it is not personal when an author passes on reading your manuscript. They have to manage their time as we all do. They have deadlines that they have to meet and things that they already owe their editors or agents or publisher.
There is also the concern about being sued. And I know a lot of people say, “Oh that is a myth.” But it isn’t because I have had to sign for papers from a server about a project I worked on. I had to give a deposition on the matter. It got tossed out because the publisher was able to prove that there was no way that they ripped off the person that accused them of doing so. But it happens all the time. I have lots of friends who have found themselves on the receiving end of lawsuit for something that they didn’t do.
I have also had friends who have had to defend their intellectual property at much personal cost. Then people accuse them of being big meanies for not letting someone else to profit from their creation. I hear grumblings in fandom all the time about this or that writer who took back their toys and kicked the fans out of the sandbox that the writer created.
All a writer has is what they have written. That is what they do. That is their job and I think it gets lost in the signal to noise ratio. So when a writer agrees to talk to you about your project or give you some advise about the profession, I ask that you realize what a gift that is. They are taking the time with you to pass on what they have learned.
I am grateful to all the writers and editors who have given of their time to me.
If you don’t know what I am talking about here are the two articles that were recently published and made the rounds of the Internet.
Mr. Olsen’s contribution is I will not read your “bad word” script
Mr. Scalzi’s contribution is On the Asking of Favors from Established Writers
Peter is asked a lot for a small favor. If he agreed to them all, he would have no time to write. If he doesn’t write, then he doesn’t get paid. So harsh as it may sound, he doesn’t do many cover blurbs or reviews for other people’s work.
Personally I owe two people critiques (that being my sister Sheila and my friend Susan) and have for about a year now. I will have some time to sit down and work on those soon.
So honestly it is not personal when an author passes on reading your manuscript. They have to manage their time as we all do. They have deadlines that they have to meet and things that they already owe their editors or agents or publisher.
There is also the concern about being sued. And I know a lot of people say, “Oh that is a myth.” But it isn’t because I have had to sign for papers from a server about a project I worked on. I had to give a deposition on the matter. It got tossed out because the publisher was able to prove that there was no way that they ripped off the person that accused them of doing so. But it happens all the time. I have lots of friends who have found themselves on the receiving end of lawsuit for something that they didn’t do.
I have also had friends who have had to defend their intellectual property at much personal cost. Then people accuse them of being big meanies for not letting someone else to profit from their creation. I hear grumblings in fandom all the time about this or that writer who took back their toys and kicked the fans out of the sandbox that the writer created.
All a writer has is what they have written. That is what they do. That is their job and I think it gets lost in the signal to noise ratio. So when a writer agrees to talk to you about your project or give you some advise about the profession, I ask that you realize what a gift that is. They are taking the time with you to pass on what they have learned.
I am grateful to all the writers and editors who have given of their time to me.
