Friday, September 17, 2010

Girls and Goals

I asked a classroom of adult women writers what their writing goals were. They all said, more or less, "I'd like to publish a book one day."

"Great," I said. "Why do you want to publish? To make money? For fame? To leave a mark on the world?"

"Just for my own personal satisfaction," was the response, and everyone nodded. "Just to know that someone else, one publisher, thought my writing was good."

"Just one book?" I needled them. "No plans for another? Or for a series?"

They said, "I can't envision my next project until I'm finished with the current one." "Just one book would make me happy." "I've spent years writing my book, and don't plan on writing more." "I'm just starting out."

"But still, you could dream big,"I pleaded. "Just picture yourself--"

Then I realized their ambitions were modest and their dreams very small because they were women.

This was a job for SuperAdjunct.

I said, "No male writer would ever say what you just said. Men dream big, think big, and go after what they want. Even the crummiest male writer foresees himself writing tons of books, shaking hands in New York, and raking in money. It starts with dreaming big."

And we're going to practice doing just that and shedding our quiet modesty, a virtue not appreciated in the publishing business.

3 comments:

  1. Great post. My daughter and I are goal setters. I wanted to publish a book and she wanted to be in a commercial. I'm now writing my third book and she has appeared in a Dish network commercial and is in the new series Lone Star that comes out on Monday. I read a quote the other day that said reach for the moon, if you miss you will at least end up among the stars.
    Ann
    Cozy In Texas

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  2. Look! Up in the sky! It's a woman! It's a poet! No, it's SuperAdjunct!

    I love that.

    Your inspiration goes far past the classroom walls, my friend.

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