Of course I'm no genius (not like Edison described)...especially not like this...
But there are times when I do get that 1% of inspiration.
Last night I was a tad dismayed at the number of views my TV column has been receiving. It's not that readers have tapered, it's that they've dropped precipitously! For god's sake, I'm losing ground to the guy who looks like Clarence Boddicker and writes the UFO column and all he does is throw up pictures of fuzzy objects in the sky with inane ramblings in his text accompanying them!
But that's cool for him...whatever gets you through.
My beef wasn't with him...or readers...or even making money from the number of times the articles are viewed. I actually turned my concerns inward. Was it my writing that was failing?
That's where the inspiration kicked in...
A few weeks ago, there was a poll in the local paper as to what TV shows should be kept or killed. I added some comments at the end and the TV writer contacted me to ask if he could use some of my comments in his follow up.
So I took a chance. I wrote back to him for some advice (hey, my motto is "You don't ask, you don't get"). I expressed my frustration and wanted to see if he had some professional advice.
He kindly responded and mentioned that it was the site's business model and lack of marketing that's detrimental and that it wasn't my writing. I even made a joke about the business model being just shy of a pyramid scheme and he laughed in response, calling me a "natural writer".
It was nice hearing something positive from someone in the business and lets me know that I should keep up with it.
Then I looked for inspiration for a column tonight. Not only was I keyed up over the latest episode of Lost, but wanted to find a topic to write about...and, with a promo during Lost, I found it...
The Secret Of His Success
So maybe I went above and beyond the 1%. But after toiling away at work and often going over the 99%, perhaps it was time that the scales were balanced in my favor!
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6 comments:
Yea, for those of us NOT born into money, the 'genius' quote is pretty accurate. We need to try, and try, and try, and try, and try, and try, and then try HARDER to get anywhere. But keep at it...just think about all the thousands and thousands of writers out there in the world this minute that are calling it quits.
Also don't forget the relatively small audience a local paper gets, especially compared to a blog.
It's worth mentioning thatI signed up to get an email alert when you post but it's not working. So most of the time it's hit or miss as to whether I know you've written.
nice article! alex p. keaton will always have a special place in my heart <3
i'm only a pretend writer, so i don't see myself fit to dispense advice here, but i will say that 99% hard work isn't always good enough. sometimes it's that little bit of extra genius that can make your work stand out.
Brian,
Sometimes, no matter how hard one works, it doesn't matter either...lol. I've learned that lesson as well.
Yeah...I hope many of them quit so I can take the job that was supposed to go to them! ;)
Karen,
Oh I know it's a small audience...like I said, I'm just glad that it isn't totally me!
Lana,
Thanks for the compliment!
You're not a pretend writer. I've read your stuff. It's good!
However, it's not all hard work...sometimes a lot of luck needs to be on your side too!
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