WHY AM I A WORD-WHORE? I like to get the sheets dirty. Ahem. Sheets of paper, that is. Everyone has something they are passionate about, something to which they willingly, eagerly, devote their time. Surfing. Sewing. Scrapbooking. Dumpster diving. Weight-lifting (which may be part of dumpster diving depending on what you find...). Jewelry making. Wood-working. Volunteering. Writing--ooo--that one's mine! Sometimes these leisure pursuits make the leap into a life-long career. I've pursued this publishing dream since I was young, and I consider myself blessed to have my writing published. So yeah, I've exchanged my stories for money and that makes me a Word-Whore. That, and the fact that I love yielding my every spare moment to the intense pleasure I derive from writing.
Maybe it's masochistic...because being a Word-Whore sometimes means keeping your backside in the chair until your ass is flat because the muse has been drinking tequila and she's spewing ideas all over the place. It often means conceding that dinner won't make itself and that you don't really need it anyway because there's a pot of coffee you could finish. But it always means consenting to the daily challenge of being creative, engaging, entertaining, logical, and grammatically correct all at the same time--and on deadline.
It is not a goal for the faint-hearted. But then, I suggest that whoring in any form is not for those who are thin-skinned. Consider the fact that Word-Whores bravely release their product out into the wild world where our Johns, bloggers and reviewers will voraciously share their independent opinions...good, bad, and ugly...and writing with professional intentions surely could qualify as a kind of self torture. (*note I've had really good reviews overall, but authors still experience a nail-biting period of time as a release looms where our inner voices speculate on what awful things they could say...)
Whether it's done for love or the thrill I get, I'm a happy Word-Whore and I hope I get to keep on putting out for happy readers. (Love all the pun-tential with our witty name!)
Your Hump-Day Word-Whore,
Linda
If a writer writes only for themselves, is that considered literary masturbation? Hm, something to think about. I haven't had the reviews yet, but I'm glad I'm a word whore. It's been a dream of mine for years and to finally put myself on display is both scary and exhilirating. And somehow, I don't think that feeling will ever change.
ReplyDeleteSo write on, Laura! Get those sheets dirty and sweaty and, well you get the idea :)
Lemme try this with complete sentences (how I loathe premature entering).
ReplyDelete"Your Hump Day Word Whore." I am absolutely taking that in every tawdry way possible.
You are so right about whoring of any sort not being for the thin-skinned. It's certainly not for the bristled, as we've all seen authors destroy themselves and their followings by having public tantrums.
@Danica -- bwhahaha. Yes. It's totally masturbation.
So true, Danica! You just pinpointed why I get irritated with people who say they write "only for themselves."
ReplyDelete@Kak - so, so true about the skin thing. Thick without being a prickly pear. It's a fine line to walk between staying true to yourself and being accessible through words and not letting people's opinions walk all over you.
ReplyDelete@Jeffe - agreed. The "write for myself" clause seems to be one of those backhanded things - i.e. pubbed authors are sell outs because they actually make changes to their work. I think people who say they only write for themselves are actually too afraid to let anyone else look at it. Fear of rejection/fear of success.
As scary as it is, there's something a bit freeing about just letting it all hang out there, flabby ass and all.
OMG the puntactularness of it all!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess it is literary masturbation to write for oneself. A vicious circle too, (plug of book title is totally coincidental) because while it feels good to write solo, if the attempt to share results in a companion(read: reader) that isn't feeling the love, then no one gets off. If the solitary writer finds greater satisfaction alone and is unwilling to risk a bad connection due to thin skin, then how will she ever reach that "publishing dream" (read as: orgasm).
And please, please take Hump Day Word-Whore with as much tawdry glee as possible. That's what's so fun about this blog!
And, for anyone out there afraid to share your work due to the voyeuristic nature of the world when you put out your work, I agree with Allison. It's freeing, as in it's done. The fondling and fluffing that authors could endlessly perform on their dirty sheets must end at some point. It forces us to move on to the next thing and therein, grow hard and strong and fertile as authors.