Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu · 4 menit. waktu membaca · ~10 ·

Blogging
>
Blog Paul
>
The Abject Loneliness of Being a Writer.

The Abject Loneliness of Being a Writer.


Its been a few years now since I tired of scribbling copy for products I never believed in, carefully crafting words for a certain target audience convincing them to buy items they didn’t really want and certainly didn’t need.

In many ways, it was a bold step to give up a company that I had built and stressed over for almost two decades in order to pursue a profession that, in hindsight, I had absolutely no knowledge of.


Content
Pabl hin

Fate was a little kind to me as my long-suffering partner was offered a position on the island of Bali in Indonesia and so it was rather an easy decision to simply up stumps and tag along with visions of sitting by the beach and tapping out the definitive novel.

One can dream, can one not?

Looking back, aside from copywriting I have always been a compulsive writer, scribbling journals, tapping out intense, verbose letters to absent friends as well as writing long, clumsy pieces that would, over time be consigned to the bonfire or left to yellow in a long - forgotten drawers. It is a complex puzzle this writing business as one strives to make everyday words come alive in well-crafted sentences that people want to read.

I fear that I have a long road ahead of me.


ABRCDEFGRT
IRTANOPOR
STINNXYZ
abedefahijklmn
nprstunxyz
1234360040.)

Writing for a living is indeed a curious business when one’s workspace is but a short commute from bedroom to study without the tedious chore of donning suitable clothing applicable to an office environment.

In fact, given that one’s colleagues lately have been reduced to the family cats, clothing is actually entirely optional and, to make matters better, there is no ‘dress down’ Fridays as each day dressing down is simply the norm.

What puzzles me the most about being a writer is that when meeting people for the first time and they ask of your profession and you answer quite truthfully that you are a writer their interest is suitably piqued. It is highly likely that they have read none of my books and yet they will embark on a long series of questions such as;  do I write in longhand or directly onto the computer, what hours do I keep, whether one can actually make a living from writing and how one gets paid.


34a91cd8.jpg

Now, had I answered plumber I doubt their curiosity would run to the matter of the diameter of pipes, clearing a blocked toilet or whether I was on call twenty - four hours a day. Similarly, would they be intrigued by the day to day activities of an accountant or indeed a real estate agent?

Saying that one is a writer is somehow a prelude to long, boring conversations regarding the novel that they are thinking about or writing or that their second cousin has in fact just finished his or her giant tome. I often hear the phrase, “you know, I have a novel in me” which I think to myself that is probably where it should stay!

Perhaps these days, when asked what it is I do for a living my standard stock answer should be that I am an extremely successful drug smuggler.

When embarking on this particular new ‘employment’ path I did think that it would be a lot easier than it actually is! Apart from actually finishing the damn novel then one has to get the thing published.

I have to say that I probably fluked acquiring a publisher in that I had the good fortune to meet a highly successful author at a well-regarded writer’s festival.


c5a8169f.jpg

I think he took pity on me and gave me the phone number of his publisher who, I suspect also took pity on me and ‘gave me a go.”

Eureka!, I thought at the time, “ this writing gig is an absolute walk in the park, only then to be brought firmly back down to earth when the dreaded edit began. To anyone who has managed to tap out a book and then endured the tedious edit process has my profound sympathy.

Please don’t get me wrong, editors are literary champions and without them, most books would never see the light of day. However, I do have a sneaking suspicion that, at the end of their working day they don leather S & M gear and head off to dark dungeons to inflict pain on poor whimpering souls who have pretentious ideas about becoming writers.


8d0f8cae.jpg

There is nothing so demoralizing than to have entire chapters that one has thought brilliant returned with the pages looking as if they have contracted a rare strain of measles, complete with withering comments in the margins. Or, better still when two whole chapters have red lines slashed across each page with the words, “this is complete shite. Rewrite.”

When the exhausting process of the edit is done there is, of course, the text layout to deal with, when one squabbles with the design school guru who wishes to set the text in a font that hasn’t been used since the 16th century! “But it looks so cool,” they say, “yes, but it can only be read by monks” is my defensive reply. Much sulking will transpire until one of us will wilt.


3958107e.png

Now it to the cover design!

This is a tricky process as I have found to my horror that often the cover designer has not bothered to even read the novel before embarking on a design that pleases only him or her. These days I restrict the design of my dust jackets to art directors with whom I have worked with for years. They at least read the manuscript even though they are liberal with their withering criticism of my literary efforts.

Then, the book is launched and then one teeters on the precipice when one’s precious novel stands on the brink of sliding into that terrible abyss. The biblio black hole!

Of course one could always get an agent but that is really like trying to catch the wind!

Even so, I shall continue to scribble, especially a weekly piece on this wonderful platform because really,  I’m merely just a dilligent typist.


Paul v Walters is the author of several best selling novels and when not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali, he scribbles for several international travel and vox pop journals.


Komentar

don kerr

5 tahun yang lalu #29

#33
Paul Walters Well it started with me raising what I thought were legitimate questions about the size of the hive and how I thought perhaps it was stalled and then the Queen Bees got kinda waspish and stung me out of the hive. Oh, and apart from about 20 - 30 people whom I really admire and loved engaging with I found the level of smarm rising to levels which were threatening my nostrils. But I still check in from time to time to stay in tune with the selected few of whom you are one.

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #28

#22
Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr So, do tell why did you, venture off the beBEE trail?

🐝 Fatima G. Williams

5 tahun yang lalu #27

So when are you back to the wonderful Bali!

🐝 Fatima G. Williams

5 tahun yang lalu #26

Well, Paul Walters You had me off my chair with "I often hear the phrase, “you know, I have a novel in me” which I think to myself that is probably where it should stay!" Well everyone thinks writing is easy but reading the work of some wonderful people like yourself, I admire the patience you have through the entire process and what's truly remarkable is make a living out of a talent that doesn't get installed by an update or a college degree! Many pretend to write but only some live the experience through words like you do! So keep taking us on a journey to places where, we can hope to go someday because someone we know did!

Gert Scholtz

5 tahun yang lalu #25

Paul Walters Merely just a diligent typist? Not at all Paul - I admire your creativity and perserverance in writing not one, but many novels and short stories. Please continue to do what you do so well - in your words: "It is a complex puzzle this writing business as one strives to make everyday words come alive in well-crafted sentences that people want to read."

Jerry Fletcher

5 tahun yang lalu #24

Paul, the long commute, the dress for success, the interminable meetings. Yes, being a writer is lonely. Thank whatever deity you prefer. It's Saturday morning here and I was delighted by your completely accurate account of getting published. I was once married to a successful authoress (is that a word? ) whose second book has been in print since 1990. She makes Hemingway look like a piker. She loved her editor but has asked me about large bore weapons for dealing with copy editors who she claims, "have no souls." Keep writing my friend and try to keep the sand out of the keyboard.

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #23

#24
Thank you a always

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #22

#22
Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr . How nice to see you here again Mr Kerr . Too long between visits I fear!! Thank you for your kind comments

Jim Murray

5 tahun yang lalu #21

I get what you are saying. But honestly, I've been writing pretty much full tilt since I was 16, and lonely never crossed my mind. I prefer to call it solitude, and frankly it's something I can't get enough of. But I get the rest of it and while I have never had a novel published, my daughter has and I would wager she would be 100% with you on all of that. Good post Paul. Hope all is well in Bali. All is well here on the Quiet Side of The Lake. Not spending much time on beBee. My partner the she-witch-slave-driving-cute blonde is keeping me quite occupied with helping her make millions.

don kerr

5 tahun yang lalu #20

Paul Walters It is very rare that I venture down the beBee path anymore but from time to time, maybe every quarter, I stop by to check in on some of my favourites. I have bookmarked four of your posts as your missives always attracted my interest and engaged my curiosity. This is a great piece and one that every aspiring 'writer' should read. You are bang on about the editing process - it makes one wonder why one ever entertained the notion of publishing. Regardless, it can be rewarding - like have a tooth removed, a pillar and post embedded then unveiling the sparkling new gap filler. Anyway, hope life is treating you well in Bali. We're having a Bali-like summer here in Ontario - with the notable absence of sarongs! Be well.

Debasish Majumder

5 tahun yang lalu #19

Great post Paul Walters! you have rightly translated about the agony of a writer. enjoyed read and shared. thank you for the buzz.

Phil Friedman

5 tahun yang lalu #18

#9
Paul Walters, my respect for you as a writer and a person just went up tenfold upon reading your answer to my comment in #6 below. For the record, I have a great deal of empathy for the trials and tribulations of being a creative fiction writer -- which is one reason, beyond the lack of talent, that I do not attempt to be one. Indeed, I cannot think of a worse nightmare than pouring one's soul into a work then sit silently while some wet-behind-the-ears millennial editor (perhaps the publisher's niece or nephew) rips it apart. A good editor is a godsend, a bad one truly a creature from Hell. Just don't give "them" the satisfaction of getting you down. Cheers!

Lisa Vanderburg

5 tahun yang lalu #17

Dang Paul...I just bought 'Final Diagnosis' for Kindle. The paperback on Amazon.com is $647.00...sheeeeeeeet...that is a bandaid and a HALF. Silly me - had no idea what you wrote 'til now! Can't wait to start it!!

Pascal Derrien

5 tahun yang lalu #16

Having the baby being dismantled is no easy sight I guess but once that's out I suppose that's bound to happen :-) I like the typist analogy is that a new religion ? :-)

Neil Smith

5 tahun yang lalu #15

You are in decent company.  Following the final draft of the American constitution, Thomas Jefferson wrote in his journal of the barbaric savagery inflicted upon his prose by philistine editors. He, like many writers before and since was wrong and the finished document was way better than his original version but that's just the way of things. I might like to meet a leather clad, editing dominatrix though.

Lisa Vanderburg

5 tahun yang lalu #14

...but you look so.....peaceful! :) Don't know which would be worse; the horror of finding a publisher or death-by-a-million-cuts of the editor....sends shudders down my spine! Thanks for the glimpse into hanging your soul out to dry....

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #13

Ken Boddie#4 Thanks as always

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #12

Randall Burns#3 Indeed Mr Burns ...a tongue in cheek piece really as I had no subject matter

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #11

CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit#5 You know I only write these pieces so that I can then savour the content of your wonderful replies. Thanks

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #10

#7
Ian Weinberg . A drain surgeon ... now there is a splendid name for a plumbing company...register it quickly. Thanks for stopping by

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #9

Lada \ud83c\udfe1 Prkic#8 Slugs ... how fabulous !

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #8

#6
Phil Friedman Well said Mr Friedman . This was a piece that was perhaps written when late at night, far from home I simply tapped out in an hour or two after a frustrating day. In truth, I love my 'job'

Lada 🏡 Prkic

5 tahun yang lalu #7

I am a witness of the hard and mentally exhausting work required for writing a science book which is intended for the general public. My husband is writing such a book about Opisthobranchia (simplified-sea slugs) for more than three years, and now it is the final phase of sending to a publisher and preparing for print. Not to mention that after trying to explain to someone that a book is about slugs, their eyes glaze over. :-) So, I understand the whole process without being a writer.

Ian Weinberg

5 tahun yang lalu #6

Well that does it - the novel within me will stay there. And when anyone asks me what I do for a living, I'll continue to tell all and sundry that I'm a 'drain surgeon' - and then with their half puzzled, half bemused facial expression, immediately change the subject of conversation. One of the finest conversations that I've had was over a period of eight hours with a fellow passenger sitting next to me on a trip from Johannesburg to Sydney. Only just prior to disembarking did we inquire of each other about what we did for a living. He was a stage actor from London. I'm usually loathe to mention what I do for a living because immediately I'm pigeon-holed and the usual questions follow. These days if it goes there, I can just say, 'go and read my book'.

Phil Friedman

5 tahun yang lalu #5

Paul Walters, since you yourself bring up the subject of literary criticism and your love-hate relationship with it, permit me to be candid: I like and respect your writing, except ... when you are reflecting on writing itself. Of course, I feel the same way about several other writers whose work I follow as well. And about several painters whose art blows me away. And I think it is the same reaction I have when I break my own life rules and listen to an interview with a favorite actor who is talking about acting. Artists should create their art and let that art speak for itself -- whilst they walk away. For once an artist turns to self-reflection, more often than not, that which is produced is something that closely resembles whining. IMO and with all due respect. Cheers!

CityVP Manjit

5 tahun yang lalu #4

Joseph Conrad was the writer who inspired Frances Ford Ford Coppola to adapt his book "Heart of Darkness" to the big screen, and in so adapting create the iconic movie "Apocalypse Now". Having read this buzz, I can now well imagine that Conrad as a writer wrote the famous lines "The Horror, The Horror" - brought to vivid life by Marlon Brando in the movie, is really about the writer. As I investigated more, it seemed that you are not alone in expressing these sentiments. There this Guardian piece comparing writing to a horor film https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/20/tim-lott-life-as-an-author Forbes contributor Susannah Breslin got so much flack for writing a piece why we should not be a writer, that she wrote a consequent piece about why we should be a writer https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2012/06/12/why-you-shouldnt-be-a-writer/#59e93cfd30a6 This is why I love my library card because it gives me instant access to the larger graveyard of writers who managed to write at least one book, and to write one that a public library system merits keeping in its catalogue. There are even more writers who don't even have their books on the public library shelf, and I do think about the human beings when I see each book on a bookshelf. It seems that you are not alone as a writer to voice how difficult the writer undertaking is beyond the alleged narcissistic and introversion aspect - something I don't know and probably will never know because I would be too red-eyed from even a smidgen of red ink, never mind the kind of cuts and slashes an editor will avail themselves before the finished manuscript has transformational value to be turned into a book and before that book appears on a library shelf - that I can then borrow with the incredible super-powers of my library card.

Ken Boddie

5 tahun yang lalu #3

A diligent typist and a successful drug smuggler, Pak Paul? Mmmh! Could be a vacancy awaiting you in Kerobokan. 🤣 Entertaining exposé of the Walters wordsmith. By the by, I loved reading “Looking for Lionel”. 👍

Randall Burns

5 tahun yang lalu #2

HaHa! Great piece Paul Walters I have the advantage and luxury, (as I've mentioned before), of NOT being a writer. Thanks for the insights and you seem to be doing quite well, all things considered. Carry on...

Paul Walters

5 tahun yang lalu #1

Ian Weinberg

Artikel dari Paul Walters

Lihat blog
1 tahun yang lalu · 5 menit. waktu membaca

I have always subscribed to the notion that the 'even' years are better than the odd ones. Good thin ...

2 tahun yang lalu · 3 menit. waktu membaca

Ignorance, thankfully, is something that we can cure. Stupidity, on the other hand, is terminal. · F ...

1 tahun yang lalu · 4 menit. waktu membaca

On those days when I wake early enough, my morning ritual is to head to the beach, and if I time it ...

Profesional terkait

Anda mungkin tertarik dengan pekerjaan ini

  • RGF HR Agent Recruitment

    M&A Advisor

    Ditemukan di: beBee S2 ID - 21 jam yang lalu


    RGF HR Agent Recruitment indonesia - jakarta, Indonesia Permanent

    - Provide M&A advisory services to investors who want to invest in the companies.- Advises how to deal with the projects and supporting documentation relevant to M&A procedures.- Valuation of a target company.- Make presentation material for clients.- Work with other third partie ...

  • RGF HR Agent Recruitment

    Accounting staff~Supervisor Japanese speaker

    Ditemukan di: beBee S2 ID - 6 hari yang lalu


    RGF HR Agent Recruitment indonesia - jakarta, Indonesia Permanent

    ◆General accounting work◆Proceed with tax work with a consulting company◆Report to the Japanese Director and communicate with the Japanese branch◆Interpreting work regarding accounting◆Other related to the task as assigned ◆Pekerjaan akuntansi umum◆Melanjutkan pekerjaan pajak den ...

  • Kelola

    Data engineer

    Ditemukan di: beBee S2 ID - 4 hari yang lalu


    Kelola Jakarta, Indonesia Waktu penuh

    Hi, Jobseekers We're currently helping our client as they are looking for a Data Engineer to work with their team. This company offers a purchasing and selling platform integrated with diverse supporting services for the convenience of consumers. Data Modelling, ETL Process, Big ...