Confessions of a semi-successful author

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 5:33 am

Hard work does not guarantee success, but not working hard guarantees failure.

I guess it depends on what you consider work.

If you continue to write what you want to write, the chances of finding an agent are less than slim. If you are determined and willing to write to suit the market, not yourself, there's every chance you will succeed.

Gee, I have a really hard time with that one. I would say that it's a recipe for being a listless writer doomed to midlist.

And it doesn't matter how hard you work if you aren't good with words and don't have good ideas.

As in many fields, there's such a thing as working smart. And it's not always a good idea to cross your own instincts.
_________________

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1780 Location : UK

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 11:35 am

Phil that's hilarious, and to top it off you are quite probably right! I was tol dby an English teacher that Shakespeare invented my name (Pamela) although there is some debate since other sources say it was a 16th C poet named Sir Philip Sidney. No matter what, it's fun to look back and see how the language has evolved and continues to do so.

Like creating language, there are a lot of things we do not control about writing. Agents, publishers are just a few of those. I think it really comes back to being very good at what you do, and working smarter rather than harder really helps.
_________________
Pam Robertson

http://andthebandplayedonmylawn.blogspot.com

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1780 Location : UK

Is working smarter more politically correct than working hard? Can we no longer say that hard work pays off because it will upset lazy people who think they should have everything without working for it. Do you watch The Apprentice? Alan Sugar likes smart people but if they don't work hard...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/
_________________
Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 12:47 pm

It all goes to show nobody has the faintest idea what will work or what
won't so keep plugging away thee might forsooth be the next squire or
squiress who really brings home the ...did Bacon really write
Shakespeare? Laughing

_________________
Welcome Earthlings
http://fly.to/rainbow689

Four Star Member Joined : 17 Jan 2008 Posts : 203

At a place where I used to work there was a 20 foot ramp that had a incline going from one floor to the next in the warehouse. Parts for the assembly lines had to be put on hand pushed carts and carried from the warehouse to the assembly line, and the loaded carts had to be pushed up the ramp. When loaded the carts weighed over 200 pounds and on level surfaces they were no problem to push. On the ramp, however, pushing became a bit more difficult.

A friend of mine, a co-worker, was quite proud of his strength, and loved to talk about how he didn't have any problem pushing the carts up the ramp. One morning some of us were standing around with a large cart, and this morning I grew a bit tired of his bragging. We had the following conversation, while the others listened. And, as it turned out, learned.

"I can push the cart up the ramp with only one hand," he said, impling that he was a lot stronger than the rest of us.

"One hand," I said. "You mean you can push the cart all the way to the top of the ramp with only one hand."

"I sure can."

"Tell you what," I said. "I think I'm as strong as you are, and I'll bet you a coke that if you can push the cart up the ramp with only one hand, I do it using nothing but my head."

"You're going to push it up with just your head," he said. "OK, you've got a bet."

He positioned himself behind the cart, grabbed the handle with his right hand, and with a few mighty shoves and some huffing and puffing he managed to get the cart to the very top of the ramp. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and looked at me.

"There," he said. "I got it over here with just one hand. Now let's see you get it over here with just your head."

I grinned. "I just did," I told him. "I used my head to get you to push it up for me. Let's go to the break room, I believe you owe me a coke."

He was working hard, I was working smart.

Nothing to do with being politically correct, just with managing the situation rather than allowing the situation to manage me.

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1780 Location : UK

You outsmarted him, which he probably deserved.

I wouldn't have asked him to prove it. I would have said, "Okay, if you can push the cart with one hand, we'll double the size of the carts and we'll get the job done in half the time."

That way you work hard and save time. There really is no substitute for hard work, which is different to feeling that you are working hard because you are working long hours.
_________________
Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Four Star Member Joined : 17 Jan 2008 Posts : 203

Doubling the size of the carts would have meant that we needed a fork lift to move them. More expense all the way around. Besides, the corridor between the two buildings wasn't large enough for a double sized cart or load. Not to mention that there wasn't enough storage room at the assembly line work stations for a double sized load. What you say sounds good on the surface, but in fact wouldn't have worked in real life. Believe it or not, there's a lot of things that fit into that category.

Hard work is nothing to be ashamed of, and will always be needed. However, I've found that if one can accomplish the same thing without the sweat and effort, it's better to do so. I spent the majority of my 45 plus year working career as a mid level or higher manager, and found that in every instance smart work gets more done than hard work.

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1780 Location : UK

"Hard work is nothing to be ashamed of, and will always be needed."

I agree.

"...in every instance smart work gets more done than hard work."

...but the smartest people are the hardest workers. I'm not saying that just working hard will reap rewards. I'm saying that just being smart and not working hard isn't enough.

Last summer, after shopping in the early evening, I drove home from town while listening to an arts programme on the radio. Melvin Bragg's guest was a fairly successful, though not household name, author. She said that her friends and relatives envied her success but they weren't willing to make the effort she had made to become successful. She said they all wanted the same amount of free time they had from working in their day jobs, whereas she (not quite literally) burned the midnight oil and had little free time to do anything other than write.

After putting the children to bed, instead of watching television or reading a good book, she would sit for hours writing and rewriting and doing everything she had to do to become successful. She found it very irritating that her friends would say how lucky she was and they wished that they had the guts to write and be published. She knew they never would but it didn't stop them being envious.
_________________
Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 8:58 pm

Shelagh, everybody appreciates that you put in a lot of work, and nobody is saying that work is a bad thing.

But I'm surprised that you don't seem to take into account that working hard won't compensate for doing things wrong.

Or that, in every field of endeavor:-- sports, art, business, etc.-- there are always "naturals" who do things quite easily that others have to spend a great deal of effort to duplicate.

That's just the flat-out facts of life.

And if somebody has a talent or knack of gift for easily getting things done, it doesn't mean they're lazy. It just means they're lucky...and often that they end up with more time to do more stuff.
_________________

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 10:38 pm

Working smarter and working hard are not mutally exclusive. I know that as my skills develop, I can work less because I do things more effectively than I once did, and that leaves me time to do more things, or simply sit on my laurels.

I don't think that smartest people are necessarily the hardest workers at all. I've met plenty of people who were smart at certain things, but didn't care to do one lick of work.

Thomas Jefferson is quoted as having said something to the effect that "I don't believe in luck. The harder I work the luckier I get." Shelagh, that author you heard interviewed knew she had to work hard to get where she wanted, but the benefit is that you learn as you go and by not repeating your mistakes, or in learning to do things better, hopefully you do become smarter about what you do.

I agree that smart work can get more done than hard work. I am looking forward to sitting on my laurels outside this evening and smellin' the magnolia blossoms.
flower

_________________
Pam Robertson

http://andthebandplayedonmylawn.blogspot.com

Four Star Member Joined : 17 Jan 2008 Posts : 203

"...but the smartest people are the hardest workers."

Shelagh, I'm sorry, but this just isn't true. If it were, ditch diggers would be running the world, but it's never going to happen.

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1780 Location : UK

Any success I am presently enjoying isn't because I'm smarter than anyone else. Not many would argue that I work harder than most of the people I meet.

I'm not here because I'm trying to make money. I have other goals and ambitions I'm striving for. I'm nearing those goals because of the work I'm putting in. I couldn't do it any other way.

You are telling me that there are smarter people than me who can succeed by working less hard. Good luck to them.

As for shovelling dirt, my father has loaded hundreds of ten ton trucks to earn a living as a haulage contrator. My uncle used to tell me how my dad had a shovel that was twice as big as anyone else's and he worked at twice the rate. My dad used to work 48 hour shifts in the summertime and sleep in the cab of the truck rather than lose a contract. He's a wealthy man now (on paper) and deserves every penny of it. Try telling him that he should have worked smarter. You think you are smarter but you have less to show for your way of working than my father does.
_________________
Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Confessions of a semi-successful author Mon May 26, 2008 11:51 pm

The Chinese have a saying, 'Get a lazy man to do a job as he'll do it
quicker than anyone so he has more time to be lazy!' Ah-So! afro

ok so you'll have to visualise squinty eyes behind the shades! lol!

_________________
Welcome Earthlings
http://fly.to/rainbow689