Comments on: Gotta Know Where You Stand

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 15:44:01 +0000

”There were no less than five typos on the first page alone.”

Correction: There were no fewer than five typos…

By: TraMi

TraMi — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:07:57 +0000

As both a long-time writer AND Crue fan, I enjoyed reading your article immensely! You’ve really touched on one of the most important truths — keeping in touch with reality is so crucial to long-lasting success. Delusions of grandeur = failure = pain. With regard to the Crue concerts, I caught two of them and like you, I entertained myself by watching the groupies. Apparently groupie living is hard living because I don’t remember them looking that rough back in the day. Then again, I drove to the concert in an SUV with my husband instead of riding in a Trans Am with my boyfriend so I guess we’ve all grown older (yuck). Great article…great writing.

By: lorrie m.

lorrie m. — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 20:35:57 +0000

i like your example about understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

but people like the motley crue fan don’t really bother me. the same with those folks (of both genders) that go on jerry springer, convinced they’re the hottest thing around. they don’t harm anyone.

crackpot writers, and we’ve all heard of them or even know them (or we might have even behaved that way ourselves) do harm people. they clog up the system, wasting publishers time and making it harder for more serious queries to get noticed under the sheer volume.

By: susan

susan — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:44:06 +0000

Whew, tough love. But it’s accurate, and as many writers as there are who don’t have the confidence in their work but should, there are just as many who believe themselves to be the next Faulkner when they should take up another hobby instead. Thanks for the visual analogy!