Double the Feathers, Double the Fun! by taffychic |  |
DEEP CATACOMBS - Believe me, I remember the feeling well. You woke up one day
totally inspired. You write the best story/article/punchline ever. You show it
to a few friends, and you get rave reviews. You're an author! Everyone thinks
you should send your experiment into The Neopian Times. So, you meticulously edit
one last time, put in all the paragraph tags, write a lovely summary, take a deep
breath, and hit the "send" button.
Three days later, you finally exhale. You're accepted! You're published! You're
famous! Your first thought is this: I must tell the world! So you do, or at
least the slice of it that is within your reach. Most of the lucky recipients
of the happy tidings congratulate you with that wary tone often heard by heads
of psychiatric wards, but the one or two fellow Neopians whom you randomly picked
out of the phone book were very happy for you.
Back at home and nursing sore feet from going door-to-door in order to spread
the word to every house in your neighborhood, you log on to see if the Neopian
Times is out yet. Oh, rapture! The faeries have blessed us with a Friday issue!
You glance over the front page and zoom to the appropriate section. There it
is!! Closer to the bottom than to the top, no doubt, and with a recycled picture,
but you don't care. For perhaps the first time in your life, people you've never
met are reading what you wrote. All you have to do is sit back and wait for
the fanmail to come rolling in.
As any "first timer" can tell you, your premier Times piece is a fantastic
experience. Sure, your first entry wasn't perfect, and it most likely didn't
bring you instant fame or a band of loyal followers, but that rush you get from
seeing your username in the byline for the first time is something you can't
find anywhere else. And whether you try it again or not (and statistics indicate
that you probably won't, for whatever reason; about 67% or Times writers have
been published once. Thanks, Scriptfox!), getting published gives you experience,
recognition, and a big boost of self-esteem. So why do so many writers become
an addition to the "one-time" category?
There are several reasons I can imagine: They were only in it for the trophy,
they quit Neopets soon after they were published, they didn't get a favorable
response (or any response at all, faeries forbid) and were disheartened or disillusioned.
Maybe they tried again, but didn't spend quite as much time on their second
submission and were rejected. Or perhaps they got their point across in their
first piece and didn't feel any need to be published again.
Any frequent Times writer, whether published two times or two hundred, can
tell you the perks of becoming a "2+x Neopian Times CHAMPION!" If you're after
recognition (and all of us are, to some degree), you might as well face the
fact that you aren't going to become instantly famous with your first piece.
Like any other newspaper, you have to work your way up from the bottom in order
to earn your reputation as an excellent author. In the long run, if you don't
give up and you continue to put as much thought and effort into your later work
as your very first piece, you'll gain a group of fans who enjoy your work and
lift your spirits by telling you how great you are at every opportunity. Yes,
there will probably be some hatemailers, too, but that's okay because you can
blast them out of the water with your intellectually superior replies. (Remember,
there's a difference between constructive criticism and hatemail. Respect the
one and mock the other, and you shall go far in your Times writing career.)
Meanwhile, as you're building up your résumé of great articles/stories/comics,
other benefits will creep up on you and one day take you by surprise. From all
that writing you will have been doing, your diction and grammar will have improved.
You'll have gained valuable public relations skills from dealing with the fanmail.
If you're lucky, you'll wander into one of the many great guilds or forums run
by and for Neopian Times writers and artists. Other authors are great for group
brainstorming, for bouncing ideas off of, and for critiquing your work. All
these assets will not only make your time in Neopia more enjoyable, but will
also help you in the real world -- writing skills are an advantage to anyone
in any job, as much as mathematics.
"But," protests the one-timer in a valiant effort to rationalize his or her
behavior, "it's so hard to write all the time, and all the good ideas are taken!"
My only response to this attitude is that if it's work to you, don't do it.
Neopets is meant for our enjoyment, after all. Nobody should force him or herself
to write if he or she is doing it for any other reason than the love of writing
for its own sake. The author's life is undoubtedly not for everyone, and the
Neopian Times needs readers as much as (or more than!) it needs writers.
Secondly, all the good ideas are never taken. I don't care how many issues
are out, how many articles have been written on get-rich-quick schemes or stories
on adoption. Somewhere inside each of them is a new take on the issue. Read
carefully other authors' wok and you may find facts that are erroneous or outdated,
or opinions you disagree with. There is your material, already neatly laid out!
Furthermore, the Neopets Team is working overtime, creating new topics for
us to write about. What is the secret of the volcano? What's the best strategy
to win at Mynci Beach Volleyball? Or, if the news page fails to inspire you,
take a look at the Neopedia or trading cards. Maybe even (gasp!) get offline
and read a book. Everyone has writer's block occasionally, but Neopia is literally
brimming with great Times material, so it shouldn't last long.
I understand that some of you are still upset about the fact that you only
got one or two pieces of fanmail for your first publication. All I can do is
assure you that hundreds read each issue of the Times, so your story has been
seen and appreciated by someone. However, most people don't send fanmail --
they don't want to seem like stalkers, or it just takes too long. Readers, I've
not met an author yet that didn't love to receive fanmail (and I don't mean
fanmail that reads, "Dear author, I loved your story. Can I please have some
Neopoints?"). If they don't want to hear from you, they will have their Neomessages
blocked. So if you're impressed by a story, let the author know. You can't understand
how wonderful a fan letter can make you feel until you've read a letter from
a stranger praising your work.
First-timers, please don't stop writing! If you have been published once,
you can do it again. The experience that Times writing gives you is too valuable
to throw away after only once. If you're having trouble with your writing, most
any Times regular (including myself) would be willing to help. So get writing
-- Neopia is waiting to hear what you have to say!
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