The Writing Life
3 
- The Writing Life
- The Writing Life: The Beginning
- The Writing Life: Getting Down to Business
- The Writing Life: Lessons Learned
- The Writing Life: A New Millennium
- The Writing Life: A Blessing in Disguise
- The Writing Life: Finally!
- The Writing Life:”Darker” Days
- The Writing Life: Struggling For a New Idea
- The Writing Life: The Last Straw
- The Writing Life: Floundering
- The Writing Life: Opportunities and New Lessons Learned
- The Writing Life: Turning Point
- The Writing Life: Opening Doors
Previousaly published on Desvario
It’s been one of those Saturdays where I just wanted to stay home, crash and get some work done that I’d been more or less slacking off with for the past week. I woke up this morning with the intention of working on the novel, and I did, although I had only written a couple of pages.
Still, that’s more than I’d done all week, really, so at least I got something done.
While taking a break for lunch, I got to thinking about this whole writing game and how truly difficult it is. The writing itself isn’t so much a problem, since I enjoy doing it so much, but the whole idea of working on something, trying to find a publisher and/or readers, or even just a few people around you that are interested enough in discussing it with you is sometimes a rare thing indeed. If you’re lucky, you have many. Sometimes one will find they’re pissing in the wind, essentially, with only a small amount of people around them who take them seriously much less want to listen to all the “trials and travails” about trying to become a writer.
I feel fortunate that I have a few people around me who are willing to listen, to read, to critique and sometimes to encourage. It’s nice to have people believe in you but first and foremost you have to believe in yourself. The world is full of naysayers and dream killers and it’s their job to spread their ass cheeks wide and shit all over everything and everyone they come across. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just wasting their time and energy and for those of you out there who have similar shitters lurking about, I suggest you pay no mind to them as well.
Anyway, I got to thinking about this whole thing and my own personal experiences and found it all quite amusing to say the least. In the coming days I will be posting a series of…uh…well…posts (imaginatively titled “The Writing Life”), about that experience, from the beginning up through the present day. Since the idea of this blog is to write about writing (and all things literature in general) plus my own personal experiences, I thought it would be a good (and fun) thing to do.
Ok, I know I am still an unknown writer to the world at large but that is precisely the point. I do not write these posts as an “expert” on anything. They are merely my opinions, my views, etc. I know I still have a lot to learn and having many poems published over the years doesn’t change the fact that I am still essentially a beginner at all this. That much I do understand but I think there may be others out there in the same position I am in at the moment: struggling to write, struggling to make their way in the face of so much competition and the literal glut of people all aspiring to do the same.
I hope these forthcoming posts will generate some sort of discussion. However, with the exception of a handful of you who I know are reading this (I thank you! It’s appreciated more than you will ever know!), I know that this is floating around out there in cyberspace, and God knows how many, if any, are even reading it or even care. Such is the nature of things. However, if you are reading this blog and do care, I would love to hear from you. Now it’s back to work, just after I make another cup of espresso.
Onward….
The Writing Life,
Born and raised in New York City. I am a musician/writer/painter who has poems and short stories published in about 40 magazines and journals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe and also has 12 books under his belt:
"Standing On Lorimer Street Awaiting Crucifixion" (Alpha Beat Press, 1996), "The Terror of Your Cunt is The Beauty of Your Face" (Black Spring Press, 1999), "Street Gospel Mystical Intellectual Survival Codes" (Budget Press, 2000), "Scrape That Violin More Darkly Then Hover Like Smoke In The Air" (Black Spring Press, 2001), "Existential Labyrinths" (Black Spring Press, 2003), "Window Shopping For A New Crown of Thorns" (Lulu Press, 2007), "November Rust" (Lulu Press, 2007), "My Arrival Is Marked By Illuminating Stains" (Lulu Press 2007), "A Symphony of Olives" (Propaganda Press, 2009) and "Divertimiento" (Propaganda Press, 2009). His second novel "Naderia" was released in January 2011 and his third, "Be Still and Know That I Am" (Beat Corrida) was released in September 2011.
He is also currently playing guitar and bass for NYC singer/songwriter Linda La Porte.
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Tags: ass cheeks, blog, crash, critique, dream killers, game, intention, job, julian gallo, literature, lunch, naysayers, novel, personal experiences, present day, saturdays, shitters, The Writing Life, travails
Woohoo! Onward indeed
“The writing itself isn’t so much a problem, since I enjoy doing it so much, but the whole idea of working on something, trying to find a publisher and/or readers, or even just a few people around you that are interested enough in discussing it with you is sometimes a rare thing indeed” -- this is so true for illustrating as well. What tires me is the constant networking and making sure I got the business elements (admin etc.) right. I’m forcing myself to find some sort off balance in this as it will only make things easier later on, but some days it just sucks, I feel trapped in a competitive illustrated web and I want to stare into the distance. But then I get little notes from everyone who like my work and that gives me enough motivation to keep going! Having people around who support and motivate you is definitely important. And I think we’re both lucky to have them around
You know, I do want to have my own stories published, but as I will illustrate them myself, hopefully the network I have now (and hopefully bigger by the time I want to publish them) will make it a bit easier to find people who’re interested in my work.
Lastly, WE are also very lucky to have YOU willing to take us on a trip into the Writer’s World while you share your thoughts and opinions. Grazie Mille
Raise the Sails! Let the Words guide you to Worlds unknown! Yo Ho Yo Ho…
Thank you TJ! I had written a bunch of these for my blog about a year or two ago. They are by no means definitive, of course, but simply my own personal experience since I entered the “writing game”, meaning, when I started to get more serious about doing it. It’s just like any other field in the arts. Very difficult, very competitive (by default, really, since I am not consciously competing with anyone -- but it is the nature of the beast whether we like it or not). So the upcoming posts on this are just a relay of my own experience. Others certainly had different experiences. I’ve only been involved with the “underground”/small press scene (in the 1990s, anyway) and I never ever submitted to an agent, or a big publishing house. The indie/DIY thing was how I was brought up and that’s what I’ve always done (with the exception of some small presses that published poetry chapbooks of mine in the past). I hope that these are useful in some way -- but as I said, it’s not gospel -- just my own experiences. Thank you for reading and commenting
So awesome Julian! I’m really looking forward to them and I’ve no doubts that it will be useful for the readers, myself included. I’ll always read, the commenting part is the part I lack every now and then hehe.
I hear you, TJ. I read a lot of the articles here but I don’t always comment either. Sometimes they’re perfect enough and nothing more needs to be said. There’s a lot of very interesting pieces on this site -- as expected
I remember this series of articles, very inspirational and glad you have decided to start putting them on here. Plenty of tales that aspiring writers will find helpful. I especially like the ones where you talked about your time setting up literary magazines and the people you had to deal with, good and bad. I totally relate to the picture you have included here.
Thanks Garry. I was always a little unsure about them. They’re okay for the blog -- because that’s about me -- but I was always hesitant thinking that they may be too specific to my own experience to be of use to the general reader. But Katy and MZ thought it would be good, so -- I’ll trust their judgment!
Yes, the literary magazine experience is definitely something else, that’s for sure.
YAY! The Writing Series is back. I loved this series!!! Can’t wait to read all of them now that I am back online. Thanks for posting these again, Julian!