Books? Who needs books? Some writers just like to write…
Beth Webb, writing on the Guardian Book blog, had an entry this week entitled “The joys of NOT being published,” which dismisses the idea that all writers are striving for a publishing contract which will lead to them holding a published book in their hands. As Webb says, “there are lots of other equally satisfying ways to get your writing into the world.” Webb sets the stage by describing her early wilderness years on a houseboat in Amsterdam living off of cabbage soup. During this time, and for years after, Webb wrote simply as a way to express herself, and never tried to get published. Why? Because “the world is already stuffed with books that no one will read.” But Webb’s not being pessimistic. What she’s saying is that playing the publishing game has little if anything to do with art or self-expression. It shouldn’t be just about physical objects sitting inert on shelves. Instead, she encourages authors to use the Internet to spread their work, or else eschew big publishers by using online tools and sites like Blurb to create their own books:
Why bother to go through all the heartache and hassle of fighting to get your precious memories or thoughts into mainstream publication? Your own PC, printer and digital camera are waiting to make someone’s day. If you really want to go big and produce a novel, there’s the internet or print on demand (no surplus stock there!). Getting published by a mainstream company is great, but in all honesty, how many of us can really afford to give up the day job, even when we’ve signed that contract? Such a long, heartbreaking haul for what?
So while a lot of people in the “print is dead” debate can’t stand to think of a world without books, it’s refreshing to see a writer who declares that “the joy of writing should be just that — the writing.”
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Man, for years I have struggled with making my writing be about the joy of writing and not about the struggle of getting published and being read. I agree with you that it is a refreshing outlook; we should all strive toward that perspective. I do find the photo of the empty bookshelf above enormously depressing. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without books, but I do wish I weren’t so insistent on getting published myself. You can check out my blog on the sad, sad topic (attempting to turn my situation humorous, you’ll see) at www.literaryrejectionsondisplay.blogspot.com
it’s also the case that _many_ people
– who don’t self-identify as “writers” –
nonetheless have a story that needs to be told.
might be a recollection of the life they lived,
or just some tale that jumped into their head,
but it’s a story that only _they_ can tell, and
we now have a way that such stories can be heard.
-bowerbird
I just wrote a blog post about the same thing. A lot of people write with the “I must get published” attitude and seem to lose focus of just having fun with the writing process. I’ve fallen into that pit many times myself.
Check out my post at:
http://www.bradsreader.com
Publishing, e-publishing, social publishing, self-publishing……
On the heels of a conference about publishing which explored what publishers and libraries each feel…
[…] is dead asks who really neads books? Maybe I just want to write on the joy of writing and not letting a writing contract get in the […]
Samuel Johnson said no one but a blockhead wrote except for money. Has that changed?
For years well-meaning people with whom I’ve shared my poetry have said I ought to try to get it published. But I have published, I’d say, waving whatever clumsily stapled homemade books I’d just handed them (or, more recently, my blogsite). No, they’d say. Really published.
I guess they mean I should sell my work (and the rights there-to) to the highest bidder. Now, why on earth would I sell something that delights me so? Why sell away one of the few gifts I still have to give?
What an odd world we live in!