Today’s guest post is from Sahm King, fellow WordPress blogger and poet extraordinaire. Whilst reading this post, remember that Sahm’s a pretty cool guy, and doesn’t actually want to squash your hopes and dreams under his metal-edged combat boots. (I’m not sure if he actually wears these or not, but they seem fitting.) And now …
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5 Really Good Reasons You Should Give Up Your Dream of Being an Author
*Disclaimer – Read at your own risk. If you are prone to summing up what a post is about prior to reading the entire post, it is not a good idea to read this post at all.*
We all have dreams. Some of us dream of being the next big name in writing. Some of us dream of seeing our book on a bookshelf at our local Barnes&Noble. And still others dream of subjugating the masses, reestablishing the Roman Empire in the New World, thus becoming the sole and absolute authority and god amongst men, ushering in a golden era of peace and prosperity. *Cgh* Excuse me. That last is my dream. My point is, we all have dreams, but we can’t all just live our dreams all willy nilly. Why? Because we have bills to pay and these cute minions – I mean children – to feed.
And you thought this was going to be a motivational piece?
I’m going to enlighten you, people. It’s time for you to wake up to the realities of your lives and get with the program. Dreams are for children. Why? Come close and I will tell you the 5 really good reasons you should give up your dream of being an author!
Reason #1: There Are Already Way Too Many Authors
So you want to be an author, eh? Let me ask you a question: what makes you so special? I mean, really? Why should I care that you’re writing a book? What makes you unique? What is it about your book that separates you from the thousands of authors proliferating the market? This is the first reason you should give up your dream of being an author. If you cannot identify why you’re different from all the rest, there’s really no reason for you to try. So you’re writing an epic fantasy novel. Okay, what makes your fantasy novel any different from the Wheel of Time series that Robert Jordan didn’t even finish before he died? Are you going to give me more of the same or are you going to make a statement? If you can’t look at yourself in the mirror, ask yourself the question what makes me different from the rest and answer it, honestly, in my opinion, you’ve already given up. Trash the MS Word document and consign yourself to working that dead-end job of yours for the rest of your life.
Reason #2: Nobody Is Going to Like My Work
This is one thing I’ve heard time and time again from would-be authors. “I just don’t think they’ll like it.” Well, you’re probably right. Let me ask you this? If you don’t think anybody’s going to like what you’re writing, why in the blue hell are you writing it? Why are you even dreaming of being an author? You know what that’s like? That’s like when a lady asks “Does this dress make me look fat?” then getting mad when her man answers “Yes, yes it does make you look fat.” I mean, you’re basically setting yourself up for disappointment from the beginning, so why not just kill the dream off the bat?
Then again, you’re probably right. Nobody’s going to like your work. Trash it. In fact, you should burn it and spread the ashes over the parking lot of your nearest Borders outlet.
Reason #3: You’re Much Too Weak to Handle Rejection
Let’s face it, it’s not really a Walgreens world. Rejection is one of the harshest realities for an author. That’s one of the best reasons for you to quit. You’re going to come across agents and publishers that believe your work isn’t publishable or marketable. You’re going to come across editors that won’t give you the time of day. It’s going to happen multiple times. Some of you will believe that’s reason enough to shelve your dreams. And why not? You put in all this hard work. For what? To be laughed at and dismissed? You should quit. Take all your rejection letters and emails, plaster them all over your fridge and let the binging on Ben and Jerry’s ice cream begin. Let them serve as a reminder of why you should have never have had a dream in the first place,; because dreams don’t come true.
Reason #4: Time to Be a Grown Up
Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids and, unfortunately, so are dreams. Remember when you were little and you could be anything you wanted to be? Well, that’s not so true anymore. You can’t be anything you want to be, my friend. I want to be a dictator, but that’s just not going to happen, is it? Nope. And you’re not going to be an author. I mean, not unless that’s what you really, really want to be. Do you really, really want to be an author? Do ya? Punk?
Reason #5: The Status Quo ALWAYS Knows Better
Some of my favorite people are the status quo. They know a lot about achieving dreams. They’ll be the first to tell that you the odds are against you. They’re right, you know. And if you listen to them, and believe what they tell you, you’ll quit while you’re ahead. People like J.K. Rowling or E.L. James are statistical anomalies. Disregard the fact that what they did took a lot of hard work. They lucked out and that sort of thing is just not going to happen to you. The status quo would have you believe that you can’t make it. And so long as you believe that the status quo knows what they’re talking about, they will always be right. You can only ever go as far as you believe you can go, so if you believe you can’t, you should just give it up and let the status quo have their day in the Sun. Again.
Never, ever let anybody tell you that you should give up on your dreams. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how long it takes, no matter how lofty your goal seems, keep striving for it. Keep reaching for those stars. You never know; you might just be the next J.K. Rowling. You might just put out the next book that Oprah Winfrey is boasting about. Whatever your goals are, keep striving for them. Never give up.
By Sahm King
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Michelle Proulx - Author 
Reblogged this on The Arkside of Thought and commented:
My first guest blog, courtesy of Michele Proulx!
Perfect Sahm!
I loved every bit of it.
Cheers,
Jennifer
Nice, ay, thanks Jennifer! 🙂
Great post. There’s truth all over it 😉
Sir, I definitely appreciate your word. 🙂
Sahm, thank you! You have it. By that I mean you have whatever it takes… big love to you. It’s a privilege just to read you.
And the same to you, Michele. You are at the pinnacle, I’d say, so allow me to consider that very high praise indeed! 🙂
Sahm, thank you for your kind words. Your spiritual approach and your incredible poetry have touched me deeply. I find that even when I’m not reading your poetry your words continue to spin in my orbit. I feel blessed that you consider me at the pinnacle. Interesting too, because that’s what I think about you! Although, privately, I’ve been writing poetry for years I haven’t published any of it so I consider myself a novice in the poetry community. I’d love to do some poetry readings in New York or Philly. Would be grateful for any advice you may have? Thank you again and may your words continue to lift our minds and hearts. Love Michele
Well, thank you, thank you. As far as advice, honestly, I’m a novice myself. I mean, I’ve been writing for only a few years consistently, and a just sporadically prior to that. I don’t know anything about the scene in New York or Philly (though, that would be awesome to get involved with). Best point of reference I could give you is the Poetry Foundation. As far as the US, they appear to be nation wide, so they may have knowledge of things going, different events, what have you, throughout the states. But I’m not 100% sure of that. I shall have to find out, though, because that is a good question. Thank you! 🙂
Congrats on your guest posting! excellent piece.
Baldy, thank you very much, good sir! I try, and looks like it worked for a change (because, sometimes, these little pieces don’t turn out so well). 🙂
I think it was liberating, there are so many writers out there that live, wering ‘rose tinted’ glasses’, unable to admit the truth. Sometimes, stuff like this needs to be said, whether people want to hear it or not, and – hey, those that don’t want to hear it – don’t have to read it. I liked that the point about believing in oneself was accentuated as I fully agree that success is impossible without faith in oneself. Like you said, if a writer does not think there piece is particularly good, then a publisher sure as hell won’t either. Keep it up, Sahm, I know you will! 🙂
Thanks a lot Baldy, definitely appreciate that!
Well done, sir.
Ay, thanks a lot Mark. I rather like this list posts. I had thought it a bit harsh at first, but looks it it was received well! Thank you again!
Thank you, Michelle Proulx, for allowing me an appearance on your blog! This has been really fun!
My pleasure 🙂 Live long and prosper, good sir.
I plan to live forever, Ms. Proulx. I just need to find this fountain of youth thingy, and I’ll be set.
Such an inspirational post. Thank you! It’s hard to fight for your dreams when you’re an artist of any kind.
Stay strong, writer peeps!
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It’s hard to find experienced people about this topic, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks