On Going Public...

10:11 AM Elizabeth Seckman 15 Comments

As I watch the drama with Rush Limbaugh (he called the law student a prostitute...if you haven't heard, just turn on any news program for the deets) and I thought of my own writing career.

Hmmm...chick is psycho you say?

Well, here's the thing. We as writers are inserting ourselves into the public eye. And when you do that, you better get ready to take it on the chin. There will be meanies who will rip on you and your work with absolutely no concern for your feelings. We are now writers...not humans.

But remember, we asked for it. We stepped into the public eye and it's not like facebook where we can choose our friends and block our critics. It's real life. Be ready to wear the big girl (or boy) pants because we can't be victim and conqueror at the same time.

My advice to Sandra Fluke...accept the apology, flip the bird, and move on. To my fellow writers...Got a hater? Flip the bird and write on.








15 comments:

  1. Kyra LennonMarch 8, 2012 at 10:57 AM

    Good advice!

    It's so scary to imagine that people will have the chance to tear us down, having no idea how much work goes in to what we do. On the other hand, as a freelancer, I'm fairly used to it. I used to write a lot of dating articles, and I got accused of being an ugly, pathetic singleton many times lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth SeckmanMarch 8, 2012 at 11:03 AM

      Oh now that I find deeply offensive!! How mean!
      I spent a weekend worrying over a single comment made to my mother..."she's getting THAT published?"...I was wound licking and then as I watched the outrage over the comments and I thought geesh, I can't believe Sandra Fluke was surprised...everyone gets ripped apart. It's just public life. Then it hit me...oh crap...I've gone public!

      Delete
  2. Angela CothranMarch 8, 2012 at 11:02 AM

    Being in the public eye is not something that really interests me, but writers have to prepare for that. I believe Karma will be on my side--I'm not a hater :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth SeckmanMarch 8, 2012 at 11:05 AM

      Even a rude review on Amazon will cut like a rusty knife and I know it. But I also know, not everyone is going to like my work and some people won't bother to sugar coat.

      And I feel like you, I'm not a hater. If I don't like a book, I'll just not mention it or review it. I'm not the last word on anything so who am I to rip?

      Delete
  3. AmberMarch 8, 2012 at 11:22 AM

    haha, love it. I have thought many times that I will have many 'haters' when I publish. (hehe, when)

    As someone wanting to write Christian fantasy- I think the Christian community will be my biggest haters, not all, just the 'stick up the butt Christians'. So I am prepared for some stone throwing for sure. But me personally, I'm not big on flipping the bird...I'm more of a 'mooning' kinda girl :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth SeckmanMarch 8, 2012 at 1:07 PM

      I am not a bird flipper either. Well, not overtly. I flip people the bird ALL the time in my mind. That's usually what I'm doing when I smile a lot.
      I would never moon...chubby butt problems.

      Delete
  4. Annalisa CrawfordMarch 8, 2012 at 1:28 PM

    I'm off to check out the news story - it sounds interesting :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Leigh CovingtonMarch 8, 2012 at 2:26 PM

    Love this. So true. It worries me. But I couldn't have said it any better. You hit the nail on the head with this one :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Susan Flett SwiderskiMarch 8, 2012 at 5:03 PM

    Anyone who gets insulted by that mean narrow-minded jerk should accept it as a sign that they're doing something right.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kelley LynnMarch 8, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    You hit the nail on the head. Get the armor on. (And only read the review that get three stars or more ;)haha)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mark KoopmansMarch 8, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    I worked for two newspapers over a number of years and *used* to worry about how the articles would be received.

    Then the light went on... I was writing the best I could one hundred percent of the time, but realized I'd never *please* one hundred percent of the readers.

    After that, I never read the comments section again - ever.

    PS... thanks for the idea of the notebook for my future ManBag... now I'll have somewhere to put my ManCard :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mark KoopmansMarch 8, 2012 at 5:49 PM

    It's not nice to call Mz. Fluke a mean, narrow-minded jerk.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mark KoopmansMarch 8, 2012 at 6:02 PM

    Hey Christy,

    Thanks for your kind comments and thanks for these couple of "tip posts"

    The only thing I'd add is that I worry about people "forgetting" me so I decided to blog Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (I schedule ahead so I'm not scrambling at Midnight on Sunday to write something, anything!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth SeckmanMarch 9, 2012 at 9:28 AM

      Oh Charles, who could ever forget you? That blog of yours, Tips for the Memory Challenged? It just ROCKS! LOL

      Delete
  11. Mark KoopmansMarch 9, 2012 at 1:16 PM

    Hey Now... with the Charles, it's Charlie :)

    PS... your entry in the photo caption "contest" rocks!!!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...