1) Charity Bradford.
2) S.A. Larsen.
3) A.J.
4) Tamara Narayan.
5) Allison Gammons.
6) Tanya Miranda.
This last weekend, downtown Salt Lake City played host to the annual art show in its usual 100 degree heat. The art show is one of those places that (had I the room) I might be more excited about because (at least in my mind) I would pick out a painting that would go great in the house that I have yet to buy.
A few years ago, I remember walking around the tents and looking at all the sculptures, paintings, and photographs that locals have for sale and thinking, "This looks great" and "That's interesting but not for me." However, things I liked my friend Meg possibly didn't like, and it occurred to me that this is a lot of what it means to be a writer. Really, at the end of the day, all we are is a person occupying some booth having concocted some story that we would like someone to appreciate, right? We are just an artist at a trade show of words.
The realization is this: it takes a thick skin to bear our insecurities. As each person comes in through the door and examines what we have and passes, while at another table, people start circling around something that you might think isn't all that special, it's no wonder our community abounds with insecurity, envy, and pride. If anything, the bag of emotions that we all happen to have starts running amok with this thought: "What does that piece of art have that mine doesn't?" It's a question with no one answer. You might as well ask, "What is the meaning of life?"
For me, life is about competition. We compete for friends, we compete for jobs, we compete for mates and partners, we compete for benefits, and we compete for resources to survive. Competition really only ends when we die. And like it or not, the things that we write or create are a reflection of ourselves. If any of us feel like there is little to no acceptance for whom we are and what we create at least there's solidarity in this community of writers.
And I suppose, today is as good a day as any to celebrate it, so celebrate it I shall.
Have a great Wednesday :).
The trick is to find your tribe--the people who have the same taste as you. And then you all have something to talk about.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the meaning of life forty-two?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good analogy. We're all artists, offering our art, and it won't appeal to everybody.
Even when you know what you do is more than good enough, insecurity does come knocking. Loving what we do is important and having a group of supportive people around is too.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part for me is that we don't necessarily even get to the point where readers get to judge our work based on their tastes, because they don't even know our work exists.
ReplyDeleteSure not everyone likes everything. It's why even great novels sometimes get passed over by agents.
ReplyDeleteAn art show makes a really good analogy. I like to compare writing to music as well. Thinking about how musicians practice hours and hours in a day for the pure love of it, and it makes me feel guilty for the paltry amount of time I spend on my writing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This is why I don't share booths with other writers anymore. Although it's nice to have people to talk to while you sit there, it can be awkward when one person sells lots of books and another doesn't sell any. It makes it hard to remember that reading is subjective and everyone has individual tastes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any of us are really all that insecure. We have blogs, we publish, etc. The really insecure writers keep their stuff in a drawer.
ReplyDeleteNicely said!
DeleteSo true! Not only is it difficult but emotional too, because writing is like baring your soul. I don't know how to make it not personal.
ReplyDeleteThere's a big art show in Denver this week--I go to it every year, drool over stuff I can't afford (I have expensive tastes), but just skim over other stuff I don't care for but obviously other people love and buy. I see the same thing on Amazon books in some reviews: novels that get lots of raves, but always too there are a few complainers who didn't like them at all.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, celebrate today, Mike, and celebrate yourself and your books 'cause to me you're great.
I love art festivals. I went to one a couple weeks ago. My problem is I can't afford anything. :( But I do enjoy talking to the artists about their techniques and telling them how much I enjoy looking at their works.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I'd spend ages on a painting or story and if someone didn't like it I'd get my feelings hurt. But after creating hundreds of paintings and stories I don't care as much. Maybe it has to do with quantity, not investing too much of yourself in any one thing.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has different tastes. We write to a specific audience, and hope they like it, and along the way, hopefully others will find us and like our concepts. New audiences is great, steady audience is better.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's so hard now with the growing indie publishing movement is the competition of discoverability (which I know is also a struggle for new traditionally published and midlist authors). I don't like to look at it as a competition, but you're right, there is a finite number of readers and time, so we are competing for those readers and their precious time. Support from the writers community is huge. It keeps me sane when the insecurities mount up too high. Happy 4th!
ReplyDeleteYes, I always try to remember that not everyone likes what I like. I'm not a fan of drama shows, but some people are. I love comedy, and other people don't. It's the same with art, appreciation, and writing.
ReplyDeleteI like to read blog posts written by the insecure writer's group. I understand most people have insecurities of one or many issues. Knowing that there are other people like us is what we need or even knowing that there are people who understand us is a good feeling in itself.
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