I'm sharing the link below because I read the article and it really struck a note with me. I was married in the 60s and the rules that applied then were so much less tolerant than those that govern relationships today, and truly represented by the author of this fine piece. Women never "played house." Marriage or nothing, and if you gave into emotions and got yourself into trouble, you might as well have been wearing a Scarlet Letter. People always speculated at weddings, making side bets on whether the bride was pregnant or not. God help you if you had a baby that wasn't born at least 10 months after your walked down the aisle. You had shamed yourself and your entire family.
Now I find the second set of rules to be equally as true. We all are reaching for the unobtainable star...at least it seems a million miles out of my grasp. This made me stop and think about why I started writing in the first place. I think I have my perspective back, and I thank my good friend (she knows who she is) for sharing this with me. By the way...Jenny Cruisie wrote this article in 2002, so evidently things in the writing world haven't changed as much as I thought.
I am torn. As I read the article, I thought...I agree with each word, but then I thought. Although many of us write to write because its cathartic, fun, empowering, etc. Don't we also write because we believe there are others out there that may feel as we feel, think as we think, learn from what we know, etc.? No matter what job you have don't you conform to someone's rules in order to create/do your job? Isn't there always a boss/editor/customer somewhere looking over your shoulder?
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone should become a puppet, but there has to be a way to have your voice be heard and make a publisher happy. Find the right publishing house, self-publish, etc.
But having said that, maybe that's why I have a computer filled with manuscripts that haven't found a home because I write what I want to write ;-)
Oh, well.
Angela