Thanks to 2 Blowhards for this article: Wannabes beware, writing isn’t a matter of staying the course.
I personally wish that the majority of those who "have that novel" in them just ignore that fact. There is not a sudden rise in good writers, just a suddenly easy access via computer to not only the means to type out the words, but the support of thousands of just-as-delusioned wannabes via the internet to bolster one’s ego. And unfortunately, it’s rarely the true talent that believes the b.s. Not just platitudes that keep these coals burning; "writers" of any little smidgin of hope have developed the thick skin through online critique so they’ve passed that hurdle and now believe themselves to be well on the road to publishing. It’s managed to clog the road and build the slushpiles to overwhelming heights. On the other hand, it has encouraged some with talent and willingness to hone their skill to get farther than that "secret desire." And that’s a good thing. I’m hoping that I’m in the latter group rather than the former; my innate lack of confidence would never have gotten me this into it without feedback from those I trust to be honest all these many years.
But in the article, I particularly like this closing:
If all writing were forbidden, the stories written in secret would be the ones we needed to read. It’s not writing that should be encouraged but reading, widely and voraciously, reading the classics, reading the modern masters. That, if my university lecturers are right, is what will bring out the real writers among us. Magazine editors, publishers and writing competitions are groaning under the output of all those writing courses and I want to say stop. Stop if you can. And if you can’t stop, write.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
This is why blogs and personal websites are so good. People might have novels in them, but not everyone has a good novel in them.
Let them write. Hell, let them eat cake too, for all I care. The good will find an audience, and the bad will do what the bad always does – probably end up as copy in a beer campaign.
This is true–weblogs give everyone who ever feels they want to write an exellent opportunity to express themselves. I’m finding that there is a huge number of people who write extremely well, even about their daily routine or about a topic in which they have a passion.