Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Lack of Action Is Killing Me

No, I am not talking today about narratives that go on and on without any movement (although this is a frequent problem). Today, it is simply about the action of people in general. I am totally sick of people that do nothing but complain about things not going right and then sitting around and doing nothing about it. You know who I am talking about.

Think about it. How many times do we see organizations with significant problems and all the organizations can do is "form a committee and fix a problem." Now please don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of getting people involved with solving problems. Committees do work. However, if there is something that needs to be done and time is important, we have to get off our butt and get going. I have been and am part of organizations with people like this. Needless to say, in those past organizations, the group simply fell apart and was lost in the dust. The groups I am part of today and I am sure there will be groups in the future will do just the same thing unless they take action.

I think I mentioned this before, but hey, it was a great comment. The man who created USA Today said that he never worried about anything. When something went wrong, he would either fix the problem, or move on. Apparently, we are now living in a society that does nothing about a problem just to be able to complain later about how we were "victims" in all of this.

Don't worry, we can bring this back to writing as well. The writers that are successful out there are the people that just keep moving with their writing. A rejection gives them more motivation to do better. A comment on a rejection gets them asking questions to learn that skill better.

So people. I am a person of action. I don't want to simply talk about it, I want to fix it. If you are someone that simply wants to contemplate your navel and the problem, move out of the way so those of us that want to keep moving can do so.

Scott


Sorry about that, but it was time for a Rant.

5 comments:

  1. So...reading between the lines...does that mean that if we submit something to you, and you reject it giving reasons, you actually want us to rebsubmit to you after fixing the problem rather than contemplating our navels and whining??? If that's the case, my finger is hovering over the "send" button instead of in my belly button picking out lint!

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  2. Scott,

    Do you need a Prozac?

    I am sensing a considerable amount of tension in this post. Really.

    =)

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  3. Yeah! Rant on. Nothing like the real human being appearing. I could use more rants from you, rather than less. Always something to learn there.
    Meanwhile, the miraculous has indeed occurred. For years, many of us, (not only me, I suspect,)
    spent a fair amount of time fixating on the new demand that an entire book must be written so that Faceless Agent could spend one moment contemplating it as he sat on the throne or wherevfer, and say, "nah, don't like it," and then it was understood that we had to spend a couple of years writing the next novel,so the scenario could be repeated, until we were finally too old or uncaring to crank out yet another novel, and mercifully just faded away.
    Coutesy of the internet & the determination of others to topple Kindle et al from its perch, it is suddenly possible to begin writing a book, and KNOW that it can be published and sold right alongside the real deal. Heck, for a mere $100, an author can even buy his own ISBN number, and create his own publishing company for one book. Yowser!
    In one stroke years of grousing and feeling hopeless has vanished. Too cool.

    And , best of all, Author is forced to realize there are subsidiary reasons why he is not finishing the novel, and deal with those. Everybody wins!
    Sign me Really Happy tonight. Rant on, big guy. Good luck with the group.

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  4. Anon,

    No, resubmitting isn't an option unless I ask you to. What I would want to see is that next manuscript not making the same mistakes.

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  5. Grim reality bite for the day. Check out Kameron Hurley's blog and read about her three book contract with a top agency (DMLA) being cancelled because of tough economic times. Even though I don't read her genre, I have been impressed with her absolute determination to keep writing in the face of nearly-impossible odds for the unpublished.
    I've waited way more than two years for the books to appear. And now...the sound of flushing. And she understands it IS nothing personal and is plugging right along in the face of what has to be (would be for me, man) a really crushing disappointment.
    Um...I sense the difference between the writers who will make it, and the ones who will fall by the wayside.
    Genre be damned, When the books appear, I will buy all three. It was admirable of her to share this awful moment in her life with the rest of us. Salute to you, girl.

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