Chris
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Ask#2 ~ In short, please help me know that choosing to write could possibly create something for me to hold onto. I'm 49, I've done slayed my demons and am no longer running; however, as pleased as I am with my life's progress, my forward momentum is gone. I feel I am lost without a compass. I've always wanted to write but I have no audience. Should I invent one? ~ In advance, I thank you for any thoughts. Christine
Lois McMaster Bujold
There are many how-to-write sources -- I usually recommend Pat Wrede's blog, for starters: http://www.pcwrede.com/blog/
Why to write is a different question. It is perfectly possible to write for oneself, for one's own pleasure -- in fact, that pretty much has to underlie all other goals, or one might just as well be flipping burgers for a living, or doing something else more reliable to get the desired attention or validation. After that initial joy-in-creation, further ambitions are up to the individual, and can vary wildly according to taste.
As a cart-horse-protocol observation, it is generally necessary to write something before one gets or grows an audience for it, although one does sometimes see people trying to do it the other way around. A friend of mine describes those as "people who want to have written." Not recommended.
Beyond that, there are lots of ways to reinvent one's own life, especially necessary for older women, as we tend to lack satisfactory standard social role models for actually, like, still being alive when older. If you ever get to Ista's book, Paladin of Souls, it addresses some of those issues. (Note it is a sequel to The Curse of Chalion, however.)
Ta, L.
Why to write is a different question. It is perfectly possible to write for oneself, for one's own pleasure -- in fact, that pretty much has to underlie all other goals, or one might just as well be flipping burgers for a living, or doing something else more reliable to get the desired attention or validation. After that initial joy-in-creation, further ambitions are up to the individual, and can vary wildly according to taste.
As a cart-horse-protocol observation, it is generally necessary to write something before one gets or grows an audience for it, although one does sometimes see people trying to do it the other way around. A friend of mine describes those as "people who want to have written." Not recommended.
Beyond that, there are lots of ways to reinvent one's own life, especially necessary for older women, as we tend to lack satisfactory standard social role models for actually, like, still being alive when older. If you ever get to Ista's book, Paladin of Souls, it addresses some of those issues. (Note it is a sequel to The Curse of Chalion, however.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Kate Davenport
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I wonder how much interest Miles is taking in his half-sisters and one third (?) brothers, since they are so far away physically and so different in age. I have had several friends with siblings and half siblings far away physically and/or chronologically and they run the gamut from being very close, to being cordial acquaintances, to being essentially strangers.
Joseph Clark
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In "Komarr", Ekaterin notes that Nikki's Vorzohn's Dystrophy would make him ineligible to be a jump pilot. Miles also notes this. But when Nikki is given the retrogenes, are we to assume they were successfully assimilated, and that Nikki is going to become a jump pilot eventually?
Andrew Van Ness
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I've been listening to an excellent podcast about WWI and the diplomatic/military complexity of the situation is astounding. What historical influences/texts helped you to form the mindsets of Aral, Piotr, and Miles? I love the way they strategize and plan. They make me think of many different generals and tacticians, and I would love to read those auto/biographies. I wish to plumb the depths of your mind.
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