NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/misc/writing/2834

Text File | 1992-09-10 | 3.9 KB | 79 lines

Newsgroups: misc.writing
Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!concert!sas!mozart.unx.sas.com!saslpo
From: [e-mail] (Len Olszewski)
Subject: Re: Publishing Children's Books?
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Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 13:36:36 GMT
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In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Marcy Thompson) writes:
|>

        [stuff deleted]

|> This is exactly the sort of thing which irritates me. Why do we have to
|> know that Graeme Greene wrote serious adult fiction to call him a
|> serious writer? Answer: we don't. The fact that he wrote and published
|> 3 children's books, in and of itself, makes him a serious writer.
|>
|> It's the same for people in all genres who are tired of being told
|> that they aren't serious writers because they write (choose one)
|> horror/SF/Fantasy/Romance/YA novels/Children's books or whatever.
|>
|> A serious writer is one who takes her writing seriously.
|>
|> Mildly related question: is there *any* sort of writing whose practitioners
|> *don't* find themselves routinely accused of not being serious?
|>
|> Marcy (who is relieved she managed to say that without getting
|>       out the blowtorch)

There's a fine line, I suppose, between self-confidence and arrogance;
between enjoying the approval of others and requiring the approval of
others; between being a serious writer and being perceived as being a
serious writer. Marcy is quite correct in suggesting that writers who
take their work seriously are, in fact, serious writers.

No one has ever *openly* accused me of not being a serious writer.
Certainly no one does it on a routine basis. Then again, technical
writers are (a lot of times) serious by nature, even if we deal with
situations and people whom we know just *can't* be serious. 8-)

Let's not sell Graham Greene short (though I'm sure Marcy wasn't doing
that). Producing quality work across many different genres is a talent I
can only envy. Anybody who does this deserves some special recognition.
I suspect Greene would have a few things to say about being mentioned as
a dilettante who once dabbled in unimportant children's literature
(where writing is so *easy*), only to later become serious and
successful (though I know the original poster didn't mean it this way,
either). Either that, or he wouldn't have cared at all.

Here's another way to look at it. Producing work of high quality spoils
your readers. It makes them think that it's easy, since it looks so
polished and effortless. If people don't think you're a "serious"
writer, maybe it's because your work is so good that they think producing
it is a trivial matter. This is a sort of a judo approach to accepting
unintended compliments people constantly and unwittingly provide. I've
learned to appreciate these most of all, because I get this kind of
compliment more than any other kind. I consider it high praise. Of
course, I wouldn't turn down more money either. 8-0 8-)
<-------------------------------^------------------------------------->
|  Len Olszewski                |  "Just because some of us can read  |
|  Technical Writer             |   and write and do a little math,   |
|  [e-mail]           |   that doesn't mean we deserve to   |
| "Have cursor, will curse."    |   conquer the universe."            |
|                               |    - Kurt Vonnegut                  |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|
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