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I feel like I have nothing left
I'm a 26 year old male would-be author who hasn't been able to find work in the year since he graduated, nor got his book that he worked on published.
I feel like a drain on my family, friends, love life and so on.
I feel like a failure in every sense of the word. And I feel as if I lost faith in so many things, mostly myself, and that my life has run its course as far as mattering goes.
How can I regain my will to try, to persist, to basically live?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Random Weirdos?
My advice: circumvent the publishing industry entirely. Put your novel on the internet. David Wellington (www.brokentype.com/davidwellington) wrote a snappy horror novel that no publishing house would touch. He posted it, one chapter at a time, on a friend's website. It became hugely popular, and generated such buzz that Random House picked it up and published it a couple years back.
Scott Sigler, J.C. Hutchins, Mur Laffery, and Matthew Wayne Selznick all have gotten publishing contracts after posting audio versions of their novels on podiobooks.com. (Check out "Playing for Keeps", it's a riot.) The first step is to get people to read your stuff. If you wait for some drone to pick your novel out of a slush pile, you'll starve. Get your material out into the public and see what happens. It doesn't matter what work you do to keep body and soul together, as long as you keep writing.
Hope this helps.
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Okay...you need to get out there in the world buddy..and take your family with you. Find something to write about, it can't find you. You can't sulk you have to experience it first hand. Do the things you didnt get to do when you were a kid. live it up...There is this woman who made a book, she would travel around and meet random people from homeless teens to elders to anyone just to hear their story. Each page in her book had their picture with a small documentary. She gained a lot from it.
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dont get so down. the most succuessful people out there had to work hard for it from the bottom. a popular man in my community is alan gerry, one of the founders of cable. he is one of the richest men in america. he started off way at the bottom. after hard work and sticking to his ideas, he succeeded. so stick with it and dont get down.
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Don't lower your expectations about a novel.
However, think smaller to get your name out
there where it can't be ignored.
Blog, write short stories and articles for
magazines while continuing to submit your
novel. You will get there if you don't give
up. Just multitask some. :)
You are not a failure. Your chosen profession
just has big competition. Takes longer to
achieve the ultimate goal.
Good luck.
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you just have to make up your mind.
if you make up your mind to finish a book then it will be only that much easier to do it. If you put aside a certain amount of time a day to write, then you might eventually get done. If you are trying to write and all you are running into is brick walls, try listening to music. I mean REALLY listen to it. Music is something that has great influnce over writing. Lyrics of songs might actual tell you what happens next in your book if you look hard enough.
All you have to do is stop feeling like a drain on everyone, and really try to right. Think of how great it would be to get your work published, how happy that would make your friends and families feel. Instead of being down because you cant write anything, try rereading what you have already wrote, and really getting into your character's heads. If you have a finished work, put a lot of effort into getting it published. Send it to as many publishers as you can, and dont be upset if you get rejection letters. Even the greatest authors get rejections.
I hope this helps.
Good luck, and I look foward to maybe someday walking into a bookstore, and seeing one of your works on the shelves. =]
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don't give up! you're situation is kind of like acting. sometimes, it can take actors years to find jobs. others, it takes 1 lucky moment and they're stars. but in reality, you have to work really hard to get what you want in life. don't give up just because things did not go your way the first time. if you give up on yourself, you may never know what could have happened. keep trying and i'm sure your friends and family do not think you are a dissapointment. i'm sure theyre really proud of you for trying. please don't give up on yourself! keep your faith up and have a lot of determination. if you really want this, i'm sure you will get this one way or another, even if it takes some more time. keep pushing forward and one of these days, someone will see all your hard work and dedication, and you'll get your book published. don't doubt yourself. you went to school, you're smart, and you've worked hard for several years. someone is bound to notice sooner or later. keep your head up and keep moving forward. your book WILL get published one day. keep telling yourself that and don't give up hope. good luck with everything!
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I am currently a college student studying psychology and a minor in creative writing. I want to be a writer more than anything in the world! I do my research on all of my favorite authors, just searching for advice and information that they might lend out to aspiring authors.
Writing is hard. It isn't a learned talent, but an inborn one. And those who do finish novels and books and want them published will eventually get it done if they want it bad enough. I don't know what genre you write, but I do know that it only takes on person to want to read it. There are tons of publishers and editors out there who would probably really enjoy what you've written.
Don't get down because you've hit a rough spot, you have to keep going. My favorite author says that if you get rejections to keep your head up, because all of the most well known, wonderful authors have had rejections before reaching their goals and getting their books published.
I'm sure your friends and family don't hold any of this against you. You are still searching for your big break. You can't give up. I still have a bit to go before I can seriously send my work out, but you're ready. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it. That's how being exceptional is. Take day by day and concentrate on what you can make of each day that will make you happier. Find things that you think are fun to fill up your free time so you're not sulky and impatient. But please be persistent and don't give up, and you'll make it!! :)
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