We saw "Julie and Julia" last night. I know several people who have seen this movie--some multiple times--and the overwhelming response has been positive. Everyone has also said that after they saw the movie, they wanted to rush home and cook. I enjoyed the movie too. But of course, all it made me want to do was rush home, write, and find ways to drive more traffic to my blog.
I don't think I'm giving anything away when I reveal that in the movie (and I assume the book, and originally the blog), Julie Powell and her husband, Eric, get into a fight. Eric begins feeling a bit neglected since Julie's main focus for a year was her Julie and Julia Project. He argues that since she started, everything has been about her, reminding her that the world does not just revolve around what's going on with Julie Powell.
That's been part of my issue. Before I started my "A Year Till 40" project, I was never really interested in starting a blog. It's like an online diary, really, and aren't diary's supposed to be private?
I've always struggled with the sentiment of "who cares?" Who cares what my life history has been over the last 39+ years? Who cares what happens to me on a daily basis that I choose to blog about? Is my life really that interesting?
But, as Julie Powell reveals, it's like a drug. I've gotten into this daily habit of writing, and I think if I stopped I would miss it. My project gives me a reason to write. It gives me a reason to be expressive in the best way I know how: in writing. People who read my blog are my enablers. The more comments I get, the more I want to write. The more followers I get on my specific blog site, the more affirmation I feel. My desire to drive more traffic is akin to "jonesing."
As the days wind down, and it gets closer to my 40th birthday, I'm starting to think about, "what's next?" Do I stop? Do I just keep writing every day, and simply find a new title? What to do, what to do...
Toward the end of the movie, Julie Powell is interviewed for an article in the "NY Times." She comes home from work, and there are 63 messages on her machine. Most of them are from publishers, agents, TV producers, newspapers, and magazines. I'm starting to put feelers out there for agents. But of course, they get queried all of the time about the next great project. They also want a finished product, but I still have 130+ days to go.
Maybe I need to find a writer for the "NY Times" to write a piece on me...but then again, who'd want to read it, right?
Hey Cory,
ReplyDeleteI came over here at your friend Matt's suggestion. My epiphany came in 2006 when I found out OMG! People were being paid for this blogging stuff! And immediately the ch-ching starts happening in the head, images of agents and glossy book jackets. But my advice? Keep writing. Write and write and write. Offer to write online in places. Do guest posts. Join a writing group. Take a writing class. Just write, and make it fun. If your eye is always on that NY Times out-of-the-blue call, well, then guess what? It's not a-gonna happen. But if your heart is in your creation, it will show. As my next-door-artist friend tells me, you've got to pay your dues (however that looks to you). To me, that means to write from your heart. The rest will come. You've got a great start. They also say, "It's all about the journey," and I think there's something to that. Enjoy yours. Your readers will too.
Pull up a chair Cory, because this is going to be a long one. But I figure if anyone will sit and read it, it's you. I've made you suffer through enough half-baked drafts of my stuff already, and you never gave up :)
ReplyDeleteI too once hoped that I would be "discovered" because of my blog, and I was sort of, but I completely bungled the chance. My biggest mistake? I hadn't put in the hard work to build a real narrative out of my writing, and no hilarious collection of anecdotes could make up for that lack of elbow grease. You know how hard it is to shape that initial idea into something real, because I've been in a room with you, poring over one of your drafts helping you do it, and vice versa. It sucks, and I somehow thought writing a blog would be a shortcut. At least in your case here, you already have that part accomplished.
You are one of the most dedicated, committed writers I've ever been around, so if anyone can pull this off it's you. What you have to realize though is that your writing is and always will be an elaborate hobby, and nothing more. It's not going to make you rich. No NYT reporter is going to call you out of the blue and turn your voicemail into a spinning slot machine. Yes, that happened to Julie Powell and Heather Armstrong and it will probably happen again. But the chances of it happening to you are similar to my chances of getting called up to play first for the Cardinals.
That sounds terribly mean-spirited, but I only say it because I've accepted that fact about my own writing. The sheer economics of the deal make it nigh-impossible to earn a living wage off your work, let alone strike it rich. That's why even the masters like Sandi and Miles and Reg still teach. I know that's not what you want, or even necessarily the fame associated with it. You simply want to be recognized as a legitimate writer. The thing is, you are. I'm saying that, Jeff and Maureen and Steve all think that. The people at MCW thought that, otherwise they wouldn't have let you in. And you know that too.
My whole point I guess is thinking less of writing as a vocation and more of a defining character trait. I am a writer, much like I am introverted or enjoy fall weather. It's what you are and less what you do.
So how does this all relate to your blog, rather than me just going on a little too long because I've had a few beers on a Saturday afternoon? You expressed concern that no one will want to read what you write about yourself. Don't worry about that. You should be writing about what you want to, because if you don't it will suck. We tend to have this hierarchy in our heads that certain topics like politics or music are more interesting, so therefore more people want to read about them. You worry about sounding self-centered, but which is worse, assuming people care about your life, or that people care about your opinions? Personally, I'd rather read your writing about your own life than what you think about healthcare reform or the Bears. We have enough professional assholes to do that.
I just spent the whole summer reading Infinite Jest, and among other things, the book and Wallace's writing style was about sincerity, letting go of bullshit and not lying to ourselves about what we really are. You want to write about your life? That's fucking awesome. Do it, because you do it well and you care about it. No irony required. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks.
I've struggled with that feeling on my own blog for a long time, because I'm interested in other things besides my own life, and yes, I wonder if anyone really cares about how I raise my kids. But writing about my life is what I want to do. It comes from deep down and there's no avoiding it. It's where I find the most meaning, where I think I can offer the best insights into life and how to make it through each day. I'd be more selfish by mouthing off about some other subject I don't care about or understand as much. You have to recognize when you have a voice, and you've definitely found it.