Lashing Out
We all lash out at times, though last night I was targeted by someone claiming to be an rpger who then decided to lash out at my work because of an rp I was involved in. He decided because I didn’t roleplay the way I wished him to that it gave him every right to attack what I do for a living as well as my appearance. Now I am not sure why he thought that but it got me wondering why people tend to do that.
I had taken time out of my work to actually help him and his response was to attack me.
So why do people think that is acceptable? Is the ability to work with the written word such a terrible thing that they must attack it? Has he and others like him not taken a good look around them? Very little exists in this world that has not been touched or shaped in some way by a writer, adverts, television programs, newspapers, magazines, sports reviews, movies, books, email jokes, even spam letters. Everything from the log or tag line on a product to a 200,000 word novel has been molded in some small way by a writer plugging away on their computer or note pad.
No two writers are the same either. We each have our own view on the world, genres we prefer, others we can’t ever imagine writing in. We often have passionate beliefs, we’ve been known to use a dry whit in order to pull others back into line or write a story for no reason beyond believing that it was a story worth telling. We call ourselves writers, authors, hacks, scribblers, hobby writers, professionals and hopefuls. There are times we don’t always agree, we have disagreements on everything from politics, religion to styles of writing. We come in all shapes and sizes, small, medium, large, extra large, petite, tall, short, we have blond hair ,black, red, purple, we’re white, black, tanned and a hundred other descriptive tags. The reasons we write vary just as much as the people behind the keyboard, in fact it might be reasonable to say that writing is the one thing we all have in common. Some of us write with the support of family and friends, others struggle in the face of no support at all. We balance children, spouses, every day bills, health issues, time, other jobs, rejection letters, months or even years of waiting for a response from editors and yet we continue.
So what is the point of this little entry?
If you’ve never sat down and stared at a piece of paper trying to figure out where to take the story, regardless of if you do that as a planner or write from the hip, then seen how the novel or short story takes place, feeling that joy as you finish knowing that another story is just waiting around the corner for you to explore then why do you think your attempt to put us down is going to do anything but make you look like a fool?
We write because we want to, because we can and because some people actually enjoy reading our work. We’re varied because readers are varied, because we are unique people and because we find something special in being able to work in a field we actually enjoy.
So please, continue to feel jealous and lash out at those of us who can enjoy our work. Our words will remain, maybe for a year or two, maybe for ten, twenty, thirty, forty or fifty years but your words will fade with yesterdays upset stomach.
I had taken time out of my work to actually help him and his response was to attack me.
So why do people think that is acceptable? Is the ability to work with the written word such a terrible thing that they must attack it? Has he and others like him not taken a good look around them? Very little exists in this world that has not been touched or shaped in some way by a writer, adverts, television programs, newspapers, magazines, sports reviews, movies, books, email jokes, even spam letters. Everything from the log or tag line on a product to a 200,000 word novel has been molded in some small way by a writer plugging away on their computer or note pad.
No two writers are the same either. We each have our own view on the world, genres we prefer, others we can’t ever imagine writing in. We often have passionate beliefs, we’ve been known to use a dry whit in order to pull others back into line or write a story for no reason beyond believing that it was a story worth telling. We call ourselves writers, authors, hacks, scribblers, hobby writers, professionals and hopefuls. There are times we don’t always agree, we have disagreements on everything from politics, religion to styles of writing. We come in all shapes and sizes, small, medium, large, extra large, petite, tall, short, we have blond hair ,black, red, purple, we’re white, black, tanned and a hundred other descriptive tags. The reasons we write vary just as much as the people behind the keyboard, in fact it might be reasonable to say that writing is the one thing we all have in common. Some of us write with the support of family and friends, others struggle in the face of no support at all. We balance children, spouses, every day bills, health issues, time, other jobs, rejection letters, months or even years of waiting for a response from editors and yet we continue.
So what is the point of this little entry?
If you’ve never sat down and stared at a piece of paper trying to figure out where to take the story, regardless of if you do that as a planner or write from the hip, then seen how the novel or short story takes place, feeling that joy as you finish knowing that another story is just waiting around the corner for you to explore then why do you think your attempt to put us down is going to do anything but make you look like a fool?
We write because we want to, because we can and because some people actually enjoy reading our work. We’re varied because readers are varied, because we are unique people and because we find something special in being able to work in a field we actually enjoy.
So please, continue to feel jealous and lash out at those of us who can enjoy our work. Our words will remain, maybe for a year or two, maybe for ten, twenty, thirty, forty or fifty years but your words will fade with yesterdays upset stomach.
posted by Terri Pray | 11:27 AM
1 Comments:
Yes ma'am. Writers aren't nameless faces, we are just people doing a job, and sometimes we need a break too.
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