If I didn't scare you away with yesterday's post, I'm curious to know if this one hits home.
The title of this chapter is "You're No John Updike!" Palumbo makes the same connection I made when I first read the title. If you're of a certain age, you may have immediately thought of Lloyd Bentsen's famous reply to Dan Quayle when Quayle was comparing his level of experience with that of John Kennedy in the 1988 vice presidential debates. You're No John Kennedy.
Palumbo calls our tendency to compare ourselves to other writers the major obstacle to sustaining a belief in ourselves as writers.
It's really a common sense thing to know we shouldn't compare ourselves - either in quality or quantity, but it's also human to do so.
What makes this chapter thought-provoking is that Palumbo claims the only writer you're really in competition with is yourself. "Think of it this way: Maybe every writer can't be Proust, but every writer can be a better writer." (p. 63)
Something else to think about - he posits that the time you're most likely to fall victim to unfavorable comparisons with others is when you're most unhappy with what you're doing. So conversely, that's the time you need to dig deeper, find and give creative expression to what you really think and feel.
No, you're no John Updike, Dan Quayle was no John Kennedy and I'm no Nora Roberts, but we are striving to be the best writers we can be.
Good luck with it.
Actually, I'd rather be JD Robb (Nora's alter-ego). Love the In Death series. But I'm just going to work on being me.
ReplyDeleteSo true, we'll never be the others. Which is the beauty of it all, shining the light on our unique selves. But I think we do have much to learn from the others' wisdom and experiences, too, to help us along the journey.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I'm a big fan of the In Death series as well.
ReplyDeleteSo, true, Joanne. There is so much to learn from opening ourselves up to others.
It's true ... sometimes it's demoralizing to read a book that's SO good and then think, "I'll never write like that."
ReplyDeleteThat's because I'm no ((insert author name here)).
Thanks :-)