tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post1917126218121360720..comments2023-08-14T10:44:59.007-04:00Comments on Novel Spaces: Lend A Helping HandKeVin K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14792797517571690942noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-54871653758629658352012-10-17T08:48:24.430-04:002012-10-17T08:48:24.430-04:00One of the issues of living in a small, very small...One of the issues of living in a small, very small territory, is that the professional options aren't very wide. The big money occupations here are law and building so the girls flock to law school and the boys leap into contracting. Anybody who wants to be an archaeologist probably won't return to the island after university. When I say I'm a writer, the response is a snicker or, from the more polite, a puzzled look. Writers are people who live in the USA or Britain, not on a little island. heaves a sigh.Eugenia O'Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10387352519341205107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-53541603221781452532012-10-12T21:27:17.104-04:002012-10-12T21:27:17.104-04:00I hear you, Liane. Whenever people ask me if I...I hear you, Liane. Whenever people ask me if I'm making money from writing, I tell them yes, which is true. But if they knew that royalties are more often than not paid in nickels, I think they would be less than impressed. So I don't tell them about the nickels.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-10622054560052151752012-10-12T17:56:21.423-04:002012-10-12T17:56:21.423-04:00Great advice, William. I've met too many would...Great advice, William. I've met too many would-be writers who think it's a fast route to the big bucks. And I'm a bit tired of people, relatives included, who try to ask me in a roundabout way how much money I'm making because, yanno, they have this great idea... <br /><br />Anyone who gets into this for the money is definitely in the wrong place.Liane Spicerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-58535353346896353912012-10-12T13:08:58.276-04:002012-10-12T13:08:58.276-04:00It is a real arm. In coastal Peru, the preservati...It is a real arm. In coastal Peru, the preservation is incredible. Natural mummification is not an uncommon phenomenon. That arm is probably 1500 years old.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-2681296811209123432012-10-12T10:29:39.970-04:002012-10-12T10:29:39.970-04:00That can't be a real arm. A real arm wouldn&#...That can't be a real arm. A real arm wouldn't preserve like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-35650670678977316922012-10-12T09:05:40.406-04:002012-10-12T09:05:40.406-04:00Thanks, Graeme. I tell my students that on weeken...Thanks, Graeme. I tell my students that on weekends I panhandle outside Starbucks just to afford cover art!William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-26670559065941574022012-10-12T05:31:41.366-04:002012-10-12T05:31:41.366-04:00Excellent advice. I know people don't much bel...Excellent advice. I know people don't much believe me when I give them the facts of a writer's life and the financial rewards they can, on average, expect, but I keep telling them. Graeme K Talboyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00147746990011686351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-71751804285853980142012-10-11T19:28:45.712-04:002012-10-11T19:28:45.712-04:00I hope so, Terry. I think I wound up where I belo...I hope so, Terry. I think I wound up where I belong. Half of that is due to taking the right advice from the right people. The other half is due to ignoring the wrong advice from the wrong people.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-1295344080891941532012-10-11T18:48:16.213-04:002012-10-11T18:48:16.213-04:00Great post and one that hits close to home since I...Great post and one that hits close to home since I started out with a degree in anthropology! <br /><br />On the one hand, it was a lousy career choice when I had no idea what career I really wanted. On the other, those lessons in how cultures worked have been tremendously helpful. <br /><br />We can only hope that we wind up where we belong! And, your hard facts of life probably save a lot of kids from making a choice that might not be in their best interests. Terry Ambrosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14859532145979982213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-39198993374598810382012-10-11T16:04:17.732-04:002012-10-11T16:04:17.732-04:00Thanks, Jewel! I see too many people who want to ...Thanks, Jewel! I see too many people who want to write because they think it will be neat, not because they have to.<br /><br />Lesley, I'm trying not to crush dreams, just to temper them with a grain of THIS IS THE REAL WORLD YOU LIVE IN.<br /><br />Marja, that's the point, right? You and me both. If I get rich from this, I'll be thrilled. If I don't get rich from it, so be it (actually though, I really would like to be outstandingly rich. I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket).William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-85410114562763921342012-10-11T15:08:34.623-04:002012-10-11T15:08:34.623-04:00I think everyone starting out should read your pos...I think everyone starting out should read your post. <br /><br />However, if someone had given me that advice about ten years ago, I'd still be right where I am right now -- writing and making no money, but having the time of my life.<br /><br />Outstanding post.Marjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09528164359512905392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-11815330752804820832012-10-11T15:05:22.522-04:002012-10-11T15:05:22.522-04:00Right you are. Dreams take work. It's importa...Right you are. Dreams take work. It's important that the dreamer knows that. <br />I was a tough old bird as an advisor, too. I never crushed anyone's dreams, but I did make them work their butts off to get it. You sound like the kind of advisor I wish more students had.<br /><br />Lesley<br /><br />Lesley Diehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10552765934908042306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-62248077385457777312012-10-11T14:19:17.557-04:002012-10-11T14:19:17.557-04:00This is really great advice. I just began teachin...This is really great advice. I just began teaching at a college and I am surprised to see students who are attempting the same class for the third time and still failing. Many of them are doing the bare minimum to get by. I keep wondering, when are they going to realize if their heart isn't in it, then it's not for them?Jewel Amethysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14813773386476356666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-85596966010459150282012-10-11T13:47:36.063-04:002012-10-11T13:47:36.063-04:00That's it, John. You write because you have t...That's it, John. You write because you have to. If you need to run it by someone else to see if it would be a good idea, then it isn't a good idea.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-52762081563991269192012-10-11T13:45:40.792-04:002012-10-11T13:45:40.792-04:00When I'm asked about how to become a successfu...When I'm asked about how to become a successful writer, I always ask the asker what they mean by successful. If they say their primary goal is money or fame I tell them the truth: the odds are against you. But if they want to be a writer because they have to write, then they'll be a success. They may be a successful hobby writer, or they may break through and earn some money and respect, but the success will be there: they're doing what they must do.john M. Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00175415154857919353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-63780594698494603972012-10-11T12:58:54.213-04:002012-10-11T12:58:54.213-04:00And that's my point, Sarah. Do you think if I...And that's my point, Sarah. Do you think if I told you to give it all up and go into tax law you would have done so? Of course not. But if you didn't have what it takes, and I encouraged you anyway, then I might have been doing a disservice.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-12682262682518658042012-10-11T12:42:47.371-04:002012-10-11T12:42:47.371-04:00Unless you have hardened in your old age, Bill, I ...Unless you have hardened in your old age, Bill, I think you do yourself a disservice. When you were my professor, and for years afterward, you cultivated and encouraged me to go down that dusty path of anthropology like no other professor I've had before or since. <br /><br />Of course... I ultimately veered off into art history, a similarly do-it-because-you-love-the-work-not-because-it-pays-well kind of career path. Maybe you just saw that I had the damn-the-paycheck-I-do-it-for-the-love-of-doing-it look. <br /><br />And wow, that's a lot of hyphens. Sarahhttp://www.modehistorique.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-39340353014183982462012-10-11T11:50:15.765-04:002012-10-11T11:50:15.765-04:00Charles, it's too late for you. You're al...Charles, it's too late for you. You're already a writer, so you have to keep at it!William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-23376474143787816352012-10-11T10:44:47.155-04:002012-10-11T10:44:47.155-04:00I need reminding of this sort of thing myself ever...I need reminding of this sort of thing myself every once in awhile, with the writing anyway. Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-42891762329280953792012-10-11T09:30:10.701-04:002012-10-11T09:30:10.701-04:00I couldn't agree more, Jane. It seems as if t...I couldn't agree more, Jane. It seems as if the aspirational goals of a generation are for great fortune or giving up. The new American ethos - get rich or die trying. It's disturbing.William Doonanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540517192121681243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-49517172205041299252012-10-11T04:52:57.680-04:002012-10-11T04:52:57.680-04:00I think that is very sensible advice. Here in the ...I think that is very sensible advice. Here in the UK I think there are many young people who believe acting and singing (not so much writing as that's probably too much effort!) are a fast track to fame and fortune. Unfortunately, the current ethos in schools (everyone's a winner) and the obsession with celebrity and reality shows don't help matters.Jane Turleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01441332018679664175noreply@blogger.com