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| The author, Dane F. Baylis |
THE SUPREMACY OF THE MEDIOCRE
OR
WHY TRY? THEY'LL ONLY EXPECT YOU TO KEEP IT UP!
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Yes, I've recovered from yesterday's disappointment. More or less. One possible benefit out of this, is that I may have, tentatively made a good contact in the literary industry and, for that, the let down is probably worth it.
Along the way I took a look at my options and found a reconstituted and very venerable house with whom to try to place the work I thought I had already sold. Some of you are probably reading this thinking, "Why doesn't that Neanderthal get with it? Self-publish!"
In an ever diminishing constellation of opportunities among the traditional paths to publication, I have given that some consideration. Let's face it, it would definitely take care of one of the major drawbacks of the traditional route, rejection. But is that really a drawback?
I've had my share of those curt, and at times borderline snarky, slips of paper. Occasionally I've received something more along the lines of a full 8 1/2 X 11 sheet, complete with a few helpful suggestions and an invitation to "Try again". In all of this, I have wondered - how much of it was subjective preference and how much objective observation? Whether or not it's some form of nascent masochism or not, I have always returned to whatever it was I'd submitted and, once more, tweaked, polished, and attempted to improve on what I have already done.
Why put myself through this? Because I have a great belief that, no matter what level I think I'm at right now, there is always someone further up the mountain. That's the person who has traveled the route ahead and from whom I can learn the greatest lesson. One of my favorites is John Gardener, the man who brought us the viewpoint of the harassed and harried monster from Beowulf in his story, "Grendel", and so many other works.
A quote from him that keeps me going is, "One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure." To me, that is what the whole cycle of submitting and having things rejected has been. I have learned how to be a better, more disciplined, and professional writer. I have learned what I knew years ago in the ring: "Three times down. Four times up." I have learned to be a better businessman in this craft and art. What I have learned mostly is that the easy route only makes for laziness and slovenly habits.
The burgeoning trade in self-published work and the diminishing of traditional or mixed venue paths is something I don't fear. The more I see of the self-published mob, the less enticed I am to join them. When you're surrounded by a flood full of fragmented debris and trash it's a whole lot harder to make it to shore and rise above the deluge. On the other side, if I can continue making the small dents I do in the mountain I am scaling, I can hope to, some day, attain a summit few have ever reached.
Is there the chance I'll never get there? Of course there is. That's part of the challenge. And there's the real proof of it all. Why bother writing something that exceeds what is already out there? Why not just write another How-To in a market drowning in them? Why not re-brand the same Zombie slop? Because it's a challenge and you cannot expect to reap the reward unless you risk the failure. That's what adventure in this life is about!
Just another helpful hint from your Uncle Dane.
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LAUNDORAMA
by
Dane F.
Baylis
Standing in the
back
Of the
Cambridge Street Laundorama
Yesterday's
"Boston Globe"
Draped from the
waistband
Of my
underwear
My
modesty
Guarded by the
world's tragedy
Reflected in
the porcelain and chrome
Of this coin
operated confessional
Where a
city
Washes away its
stain
And everything
I own
Tumbles over
itself
As wrinkled and
damp
As the fat old
woman
Who is holding
my clothes
Hostage for a
back rent ransom
Because I
cannot get drunk enough
To do like the
fey young men
Who live
upstairs
And work off
their debts
In her creaking
bed
Then rush to
the communal bathroom
To wash away
the memory of that tariff.
We're really
not so different
I
guess
Washing our
agony
In sacraments
of Clorox
And
poetry
And
writing
A fat old
woman's phone number
On a laundromat
wall.
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Meanwhile...live, love, write.
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You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the
right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors
retain all
rights.
Tomorrow,
Dane F. Baylis
Author.
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