A Wallflower in the Writing World
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
I read Miss Snark religiously. If you’ve not yet entered the hallowed halls of Snarkdom and basked in the radiance of Her Most Splendiferous Snarkiness, you should make the pilgrimage without delay. Not only is her blog extremely entertaining (Miss Snark does not suffer fools gladly. In fact, she doesn’t suffer fools at all.), it is extremely enlightening. I take what she says very seriously, as well I should, since Miss Snark knows that of which she speaks. So when two of her recent posts were on the importance of attending writing conferences, I shuddered. Hard.
You see, I’m a just a wee bit shy. Ok, so I’m painfully shy (in some cases almost phobic). Unless I know most of the people already, I don’t do well in groups of more than a dozen. I tend to shut down, hide in a corner (usually with a book), or find someone I already know and keep myself in their sphere of conversation. Heaven forbid I actually have to stand up and say something. Heck, I get paralyzed making phone calls to people I don’t know (making appointments and ordering pizza don’t count).
I know I need to get over this obstacle to my writing career. I’m much better than I used to be, that’s for certain. While the thought of joining a writing group makes me tremble, I am working up the courage to go (if I can find one nearby that doesn’t mind a 9 month old tagging along). I really want the peer review and support. But the thought of going to a writing conference is more than I can handle right now. Even worse, I would have to go by myself, since I don’t know any fellow writers nearby (and probably won’t until I go to the aforementioned writing group). I don’t think I can force myself to do it. And if I somehow, by sheer force of will and desire to get published, managed to haul my trembling self to a conference, then I’m supposed to introduce myself to total strangers, to start networking? Angels and ministers of grace, defend me.
So my dilemma is this–what’s a shy little daisy like myself to do? I write, I revise, I blog, I read other blogs, I leave comments. I’m fairly comfortable with this nice, safe method of communication (I firmly believe tongues too should come with a backspace key). But is that good enough?
Your comments are greatly appreciated, yea, desired.
Especially those of the estimable Miss Snark, should she miraculously happen upon this humble blog.