Whenever I start to feel really lousy about my writing, and begin to wonder if this is all just a sick obsession that is robbing my of my precious, precious time on this earth, I check the statistics for this blog, for my wordcounts, for my interactions around the web.
Also, whenever I start to feel really fantastic about my writing, and begin to wonder who will write the first of the biographies detailing my incredible, inspiring career, I check the statistics for this blog, for my wordcounts, for my interactions around the web.
I am never as bad as I fear, nor as marvelous as I assume.
There are people who will tell you not to pay any attention to numbers, since they can be just another thing to fret over. True enough. However, there is truth in numbers. If more people are reading your work, if you are selling more copies, attracting more devotees, that should tell you something. Conversely, if fewer people are reading your work, if people are abandoning you and you aren't selling at all... that should tell you something, too.
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Also, whenever I start to feel really fantastic about my writing, and begin to wonder who will write the first of the biographies detailing my incredible, inspiring career, I check the statistics for this blog, for my wordcounts, for my interactions around the web.
I am never as bad as I fear, nor as marvelous as I assume.
There are people who will tell you not to pay any attention to numbers, since they can be just another thing to fret over. True enough. However, there is truth in numbers. If more people are reading your work, if you are selling more copies, attracting more devotees, that should tell you something. Conversely, if fewer people are reading your work, if people are abandoning you and you aren't selling at all... that should tell you something, too.
Try --> Achieve --> Evaluate --> Adjust --> Try again
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What's your most popular post, Tony?
ReplyDeleteThe most popular thing I've ever done is "11 Ways You Can Stop Pissing Me Off On Twitter". It got picked up by one of the big business advice blogs, so I got a big viral spike on it.
DeleteMy "Ode to the Semicolon" and "How to behave like a professional in 3 easy step" are also perennially popular, the former because I push it, the latter because it shows up in search engines.
What is the most marvelous you've ever assumed you were, Tony?
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea of the delusional capacity of my ego - truly, you don't. To say that I've sometimes assumed myself to be an undiscovered genius is wildly understating it. An incredible power of intellect mated with vast landscapes of sensitivity, razor-sharp wit and unplumbed depths of pain and passion... that's Tony Noland.
DeleteThere have been times when I was smugly confident that as soon as I finished my book and sent it off to a couple of agents, they would fall all over themselves offering representation. Naturally, they would be *breathless* in their praise, and damned near sweaty in their willingness to drop EVERYTHING ELSE they might have pending in order to get this book in print.
Whichever of the lucky publishers who put in the highest bid for my masterpiece, my seven figure advance would be something they were happy, no, THRILLED to pony up, since it secured them the rights to a gold mine. 300,000 copies in the first printing, more than a 1,000,000 copies in the second, and more than 20,000,000 in the subsequent rounds of explosive, viral success. The subsequent four book deal would be the envy of every other publisher on the planet. A graphic novel based on the book would follow, as would merchandise like calenders, coffee mugs and video games.
A movie based on my book would be a natural next step, and it would, of course, be a blockbuster, monster hit, gaining six Oscars for writing and special effects, as well as (somewhat surprisingly) an Oscar nomination for George Clooney's portrayal of the main character.
As soon as I finish the book...
LOL That's a whole blog post in itself.
DeleteHahaha! I may have had that same delusion. Every writer has that same daydream, no?!
Delete......and every time you feel lousy, you tend to find a rather fiercely-vocal Geordie yelling at you that you're brilliant. :p
ReplyDeleteAnd I appreciate it, too!
DeleteThis is the system I like to use: Plan --> Execute --> Evaluate --> Adjust --> Plan Again
ReplyDeletePretty similar, but achievement and execution aren't the same. Achieve implies actual success, and there's the almost certain possibility of failure, for me at least. Tony Noland, maybe not so much :)
P.S. - This is my first time to your blog, I followed some Twitter post about bikinis, which was completely inaccurate, but my curiosity gets the best of me sometimes. I read your "About Me" page, cheers to being a middle child!
Oh, I've certainly racked up an impressive record of failures, but failures are achievements, too. Every scar tells a story, and it's the stories we've lived that make us who we are. People without scars are boring.
DeleteMiddle children rule! In a low-key, off-by-themselves kind of way, but we rule nonetheless!