A lesson from literary agent, Betsy Lerner, for writers — helpful for any of us with a drive to make our contribution to the world.
“Writers want justice. They want some insurance that their drive, their will, their hope and delusions, their madness and profligacy, and their fierce self-belief will produce works of lasting value. What writers want is to be taken on their own terms, to have their books praised or panned according to their own state or implicit goals, not according to the whim and prejudice of critics who say they should have attempted something different, more in keeping with the critics’ ideas or notions.
‘Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.’ wrote George Orwell. “One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention.’
No matter how lonely or driven the writer, no matter how many others she would gladly trample or shove in front of an oncoming car so that his own words could emerge triumphant, what writers finally want more than good editing and more than marketing and ten-city tours and two-book contracts and appreciation (make that worship) and lucrative movie deals and hoity prizes are readers. Loyal, avid readers.
The Forest for the Trees, Betsy Lerner. Pp 230-31. Riverhead Books a member of Penguin Putnam. New York, New York. 2000.