We writers are a fickle bunch. It doesn't matter if it's text books, porn, sci-fi, literary classics... doesn't matter. Writers, in general, tend to be... dramatic. And a bit over the top. Often alcoholics! (Hello, Hemingway!) This author I know had a bit of a meltdown, and it wasn't their first. That's fine. It happens. Shit happens. It had just never occurred to me in this day of being constantly connected to the internet that a lot of people's meltdowns are public. I mean, we can look at Anne Rice or Laurel K. Hamilton for famous author meltdowns, but how often do we all point and laugh at the kid having a tantrum over not being able to play his xbox? Or someone going batshit crazy in a drive-up window?
It really struck home that nothing's private anymore. I keep this face and my "real" face separate (WHY CAN'T I EVER SPELL THAT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME?!) for a reason. I'm also not political or religious on this face for a reason. I sell erotica. That's it. If things make things more sexy, then I promote it (like gay rights, come on now... having buttsex is a perfectly natural and ok thing to do, people!). If it doesn't, I don't. In my REAL life, I'm very opinionated on things but... I can be there. Here, I want a sexy environment which sometimes discusses the technical aspects of writing. I don't want to do anything to kill a buzz. Not only that, I really do want to help new writers find their way a little bit if they can. There's this other author who started just after I did, and we talk a lot. They're pretty supportive, and I'm supportive of them even though their kinks aren't mine and vice versa. They've given me ideas, and I don't know if I've done the same for them, I've read some of their work and offered feedback. I'm happy to do so! (at least if I can fit it into my busy schedule of working and looking at a blank page!) And yeah, some details I do post from my RL like the basement saga, but it's pretty generic RL details.
Authors should help each other, which includes emotional support. Because you know what? It's fucking hard. Yeah, I know I say I vomit things up on page sometimes, but it's still hard. I'm putting parts of myself out there. So is every other writer. Then we all wait for approval, and by approval I mean reviews and sales. But specifically sales. It's a self-done business, and it's fucking hard. Not only do you have to create when you oftentimes don't want to, but for independent authors, you have to figure out how to get a cover, market it, sell it, keep promoting, and so on. Not only that, but authors (artists in general but we're talking specifically authors here) open themselves up to criticism which they need to smile and take. In the more traditional publishing world? More stress, believe it or not. Maybe not when you make it big, but most authors aren't "big". They have deadlines. They have editors to appease. They have to cut books down or stretch them out to fill quotas or book layouts. They often don't have control over their own work.
It's no wonder why authors tend to be a crazy bunch. In this day and age, it's all going to be public. There's nothing private anymore. Everything is out there for anyone to view, day or night. I had been thinking about letting people I know IRL know about my pen name and vice versa, but I think this has quite convinced me to keep it separate.
One quality that, to me, separates adults from children (supposedly) is self-control. For me, this identity is also a "face." A mask. An avatar in the greater sense beyond a profile picture.
ReplyDeleteAnd while a surprising amount of my real self goes into this, there's a great deal that doesn't and never will. You're never going to see me lose my shit online. Nobody needs to know about what I'm going through in other ways and other areas of my life, because THAT DOESN'T SELL BOOKS.