Ever Get Depressed....

[MMWyrm]

.... that you will probably not have enough years left in your life to write all the novels you want to write?

I was thinking earlier today that, at 1.5 years per novel (my current rate), I'll only have time to write about 29 novels before I go senile.

Depressing.

[Qui]

Do you have a family history of senility at a certain age? My grandmother is eighty-four, and still mentally, physically, and emotionally fit. If she wanted, she could write a novel.

Then again, my brother died at thirty, so maybe you should write more than you worry. :)

[Sean D. Schaffer]

I get depressed, yes. But not for the same exact reason. I worry I'll never get published because I've been too lazy to take the submissions process seriously for any amount of time. That and I get depressed when I get rejections, thinking my work is no good.

So my depression is caused by my own laziness, and my own thin skin. The only thing I can do about that is stop worrying about what others think, and get off my duff so I can start submitting.

:)


--Sean

[Garpy]

wow...29 books is enough, isn't it?

I'm on 1 book a year, and I'm hoping to be able to retire on my millions before I hit fifty.

*sigh*....I wish.

[Cassiopeia]

I don't think that allowing myself the luxury of such a self defeating inner dialog would be conducive to getting much accomplished. So no. I don't.

[bluntforcetrauma]

When I took the average age of my parents' lives, I have 23 years left (barring accidents, tornadoes, diseases, my wife becoming a serial killer). It seems only yesterday when I was a little boy playing shoot 'em up. Yep the sword's hanging over my head every minute.

[seun]

Never thought about that and it doesn't bother me now to think about it. I'm in the 'depressed because of never getting published' camp.

[Zoombie]

I try to not get depressed, it gets in the way of me being happy.

[MMWyrm]

Wow. You guys are really serious.

Now I'm even more depressed... you know, even though its not productive.

;)

[Nateskate]

.... that you will probably not have enough years left in your life to write all the novels you want to write?

I was thinking earlier today that, at 1.5 years per novel (my current rate), I'll only have time to write about 29 novels before I go senile.

Depressing.

Show off- You have that many years left!

[Nakhlasmoke]

Uh...write faster?

Seriously though, it's not the numbers that depress me, it's the thought that I'll never be quite good enough to write the books that are in my head.

Oh, and rejection after rejection depresses me too.

[Saundra Julian]

Depression sucks and steals your happy moments on earth.

[C.bronco]

.... that you will probably not have enough years left in your life to write all the novels you want to write?

I was thinking earlier today that, at 1.5 years per novel (my current rate), I'll only have time to write about 29 novels before I go senile.

Depressing.
Write shorter books and type faster! :D I am being facetious.

[ishtar'sgate]

.... that you will probably not have enough years left in your life to write all the novels you want to write?

I was thinking earlier today that, at 1.5 years per novel (my current rate), I'll only have time to write about 29 novels before I go senile.

Depressing.
Being as I only think a couple of novels ahead of what I'm writing, that isn't a concern at all. Plenty of writers produce work well into their 80's and beyond so, no, I don't worry about it. Plus family genetics is on my side. My grandmother lived to 104 without getting senile and my mom is getting up there and sharp as a tack. I've got lots of years left in me.:)
Linnea

[IceCreamEmpress]

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.


Of course, Keats wasn't wrong--he died when he was 26.

[orion_mk3]

I'd say that unless you have a family history of senility, there's no need to worry. Or, rather, that worrying takes up valuable writing time :)

After all, my grandmother took up novel writing when she was 87 years old, and has just finished her third at age 90!

[Phaeal]

I have three different fantasy/SF milieus in which I can envision writing three plus novels, and then there are the stand-alone novels. However, I'm not depressed thinking about them all -- I'm cheered up. It would be much worse to have ideas for only one or two novels!

[Charlie Horse]

Senility never held me back from anything, especially writing. In fact, I'd like to say I didn't start writing until I went senile. I'd like to say that, if only I could remember...

What were we talking about again?

[Cassiopeia]

The problem with this line of thinking is that it's self propagating defeatism. I refuse to allow myself to gather a conclusion based on my fears. Am I a good enough writer? Sure you bet I am for some agent/publisher.

But I'll never find out if I stop writing and never finish my book.

So get busy. Get your butt in the chair put on some music and write your bleeding story already.

[RedScylla]

Not everybody can be Anthony Trollope. Forty-seven books by the time he died, many of them written while he was employed full-time as a postal inspector. 47 books in 68 years. He was 60 when he wrote The Way We Live Now, and I bet he died with a few ideas in his head. You can't be worrying that you won't finish all your novels before you die...that way lies madness. ;)

[scribbler1382]

Hey, Arthur C. Clarke is 90 and still going. He wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey when he was 58.

But I know what you mean. My big "death" worry usually comes when I'm nearing completion of a project. I'm always sure I'll die before I finish. If you can't tell, it hasn't happened yet. :)

[Kerr]

Well, I like to imagine one great book, take Gone With The Wind, for example, nine years in the making, published in 1936, won the Pulitzer, was made into a movie, and continues to captivate the world. That would be so enough....

[JoNightshade]

I'm more afraid of running out of ideas than time. :)

[Cassiopeia]

Well, I like to imagine one great book, take Gone With The Wind, for example, nine years in the making, published in 1936, won the Pulitzer, was made into a movie, and continues to captivate the world. That would be so enough.... Oh I am so with you on that one. If I can write one thing that changes the lives of others or perhaps gives a new perspective on something then I will die a happy woman.

Oh you know, my kids say I've done that for them. I guess I'm good then. It's all bonus from here. ;)

[Scribhneoir]

I figure whatever is left at the end of this life, I'll write in the next one. :D
I've got my share of things to be depressed by (a shaky job situation and four co-workers laid off yesterday, for instance), but writing isn't one of them. Writing is really the only thing in my life that is completely under my own control. That's a powerful feeling during those low moments.

[Cassiopeia]

I figure whatever is left at the end of this life, I'll write in the next one. :D
I've got my share of things to be depressed by (a shaky job situation and four co-workers laid off yesterday, for instance), but writing isn't one of them. Writing is really the only thing in my life that is completely under my own control. That's a powerful feeling during those low moments.

Thanks for sharing that with us. I never thought of it this way. I'm really glad you said this. Thanks again!

[juneafternoon]

I don't think about it like that at all. My biggest publishing pet peeve is seeing authors go on when they should've just zipped their quip about twenty books ago. I think you should worry about the quality of your ideas more than you should worry about how many books you'll write.

[Esopha]

Not really.

Of course, now that I'm thinking about it, I probably will get depressed.

[Atlantis]

You can't predict the future and you'll be stupid to even try. You don't know how long you're going to live or if you're going to fall ill and loose your marbles. You could live to the ripe age of 104. You just don't know. Its also dumb to try and predict the number of novels you'll be able to write before you die. My first novel took me 7 years. My second 4. I haven't started my third yet, but I've learnt so much about plotting, characters and outlining, it will probably take me a 1-2 years. Writers get faster with time and practise. Just because you might write 1 book a year NOW doesn't mean you always will. Don't even focus on WHEN and HOW you're going to die. Just focus on the present. I don't think about when I'm going to die. I certainly wouldn't try to put a number on it. My Nanna is an 84 year old smoker and will probably live to her mid 90s at this rate. Will I live as long as her? I don't know. I don't care. Will I be able to write over 20 novels in my time? I don't know! I'll rather be known for writing one really good novel then 20 bad ones. Its not about how many novels you churn out, its about writing good ones that will be remembered long after you die, like Lord of the Rings or Gone with the Wind. If you can reach that high standard you will never be forgotten. You will be immortal.

[scribbler1382]

I don't think about it like that at all. My biggest publishing pet peeve is seeing authors go on when they should've just zipped their quip about twenty books ago. I think you should worry about the quality of your ideas more than you should worry about how many books you'll write.

Easy to say when you're closer to the womb than the tomb. ;)

[MMWyrm]

You know, if I was of a delicate nature and was easily offended, you people would drive me either off the board or out of my mind. Good god. I spent all of 5 minutes playing with numbers and projected senility and made some humorous post about it. I am not spouting invitations to join me in my depressed wallow or anything like that.

If I can write one thing that changes the lives of others or perhaps gives a new perspective on something then I will die a happy woman.

I come at writing from a different angle, and I suppose that may be why I was thinking about quantity. I have ten ideas per day for new stories. Of course, most of them suck. While it would, of course, be fabulous to write something that affects society in a positive way, I'm more interested in the actual writing.

Now I will return to posting smilies and platitudes until I have 1,000 posts and I earn the secret decoder ring. :)

[scribbler1382]

Well, this isn't a blog, after all. A new post starts a thread, a discussion. Which is exactly what happened here.

[Nakhlasmoke]

"ooh, I posted something and didn't like where the thread went."

Hmm. seems I've seen a few of these crop up.

[juneafternoon]

Easy to say when you're closer to the womb than the tomb. ;)
Ha, that's assuming I live to be senile.

ETA: And really, all I said was, focus on the quality, not quantity. I think the concern is being placed on the wrong thing.

That said, I'm more of a live and let live sort of person (and still in my teens) which might explain why I'm not hypertensive about my next WIP or my expiration date.

[Shweta]

You know, if I was of a delicate nature and was easily offended, you people would drive me either off the board or out of my mind. Good god. I spent all of 5 minutes playing with numbers and projected senility and made some humorous post about it. I am not spouting invitations to join me in my depressed wallow or anything like that.

Your initial post certainly reads to me as depressed and asking for input/opinions. Did you not want those? If not, then why exactly did you start a thread?

If it was meant to be humor, I'm afraid it seems that nobody noticed; and when everybody misses something, it was probably unclear.

Some people here have actually been trying to help you; I think you owe them respect and thanks, even if you didn't mean your initial post seriously. A put-down is certainly not an appropriate response.

I come at writing from a different angle, and I suppose that may be why I was thinking about quantity. I have ten ideas per day for new stories. Of course, most of them suck. While it would, of course, be fabulous to write something that affects society in a positive way, I'm more interested in the actual writing.

Might I suggest short stories, then?

[swvaughn]

Melancholy is good for you. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18885211)

I actually felt happy reading this article. Wonder if that's a good thing?