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I have been a writer all my life but have had no success, so in the past year I actually gave up on it and spent more time on other hobbies. But I am thinking of the subject of 'writing' again, welcoming the hobby back into my interests.
Do you believe though that you can have 'fun' just writing for yourself? I believe I can and if I think anything I write is good enough for publication in the future I will give it a go.
What do you think?
Should I give up on it altogether or continue in the future to write, even if it is only just for my own pleasure?
Comments
If writing gives you pleasure, and you have stories waiting to come out onto paper - or computer, as the case may be - then keep at it. What kind of things do you write? Personally, I write sci fi.
What do you write? Maybe you should try something different like poetry or non fiction, so don't stop.
I, myself, due to health problems I have been ordered by a professional doctor to read only light novels so in the past week I have managed to buy second-hand 'Mills and Boon', 'Silhouette' and other romance stories and have completed reading three of them already, enjoying them all. So I have the thought in my head to follow that type of story plotting to do myself.
Once you start writing your brain will never be quiet again, and as you've discovered you can stop for a while, but the lure of the pen/keyboard will not be resisted.
If you are a writer, you are a writer. You were born that way, so there's nothing you can do about it, I'm afraid!
Whatever gives you pleasure (if it's legal and not a health-hazard!), you should indulge in. Why not? You have nothing to lose and the more you write, the more polished your work will become. There are so many opportunities out there to get your work seen (e.g. competitions, websites, writers' groups) if that's what you want to do, or you could just build up your own portfolio to use as and when you like, or not at all.
Go for it! I'm sure writing a romance will give you a great sense of achievement.
Good luck.
That's a great idea. All the forces who keep the unpublished unpublished haven't found a way round that one!
I had no idea, when I started this lark, how unbelievably difficult it is to break into any sort of marketplace. Even though I often feel like giving up, I can't. I've always written to work through a line of thought, or through habit and pleasure, so just because I'm not published won't mean I can stop writing.
As Baggy and pbw have said, blogging is a good way of pushing your work on line and can be great fun.
When all else fails you can keep your creativity honed by coming on to Talkback to poke gentle fun at some of the strange people who bumble about on here. By and large, they don't seem to mind, and it helps to pass the time.
Good luck
Well, you know, anything that helps to fill the empty space...
Duh......
Sums it up well. My hobby is writing... my goal is publication.
The uni course I have been doing has given me a better evaluation of my work. Join a group Alana or sign up for a course. If it's a hobby you'll enjoy it, in the meantime where is the harm in improving and getting honest feedback.
I have a lot of hobbies but I know that I can sneak writing time back again into my present world. As really I don't want to give up fully. I can just say to myself now that "I've just had a long break". I can begin again!!!
THANKS!!!
Keep plugging away at your target market, though - you just never know when that break will come, and in what form; it's just a matter of sizing up your target publication, produce something to fit in it, then directly approach the editor/publisher - it certainly worked for me!
I've had quite a lot of articles and features published in magazines over the years - mostly in bulk between 1986 and 1994, then a trickle since then, whenever I've felt like contributing an article, as the opportunity pops up and to fulfil a specific role (like car & motorcycle shows and features, etc) - once establised, all I had to do was ring the editor(s) with a proposed article, and almost always got the nod to go ahead...but as always, you have to get that break in the first place, then build up a rapport with both editors and readers, I found...
I'm doing another show article right now, for a bike show that took place this last weekend - and this time, I'm going to keep submitting as many more as the editor will take, as I need to save some extra cash!
Time to shift up the gearbox a bit!
I also find it is a release, especially when I'm troubled. Good stuff appears on paper then, but it can also be traumatic because it sometimes makes me feel exposed.
So long as you enjoy it, don't worry if you haven't been published. When and if you're feeling a bit more confident, it's worth submitting work just for the experience if nothing else. Also, if your lucky enough to have a piece accepted, it is a massive confidence booster and can result in creative explosions everywhere...well it did for me :-)