What's your writer dream?

What is your dream as a writer? I'm sure most of you want to be published. Do you want to be really famous? Do you want to reach out to a specific group of people? If you were to become the next JK Rowling, what would you do with the money?

I want to be published and at the very least hit the NYT bestseller list.

Published and at least hit the NYT Bestseller list--exactly my hopes and dreams. My fantasy series contains seven books, so I hope to rake in some major cash on multiple-book deals.

Hmm...if I were the next JK Rowling, I would pay for college, get a Master's degree, have electric functions installed on my car, and own a nice house. Maybe take a vacation to Europe. Go to the moon. You know, nothing all that impressive.

Amanda wrote:Published and at least hit the NYT Bestseller list--exactly my hopes and dreams. My fantasy series contains seven books, so I hope to rake in some major cash on multiple-book deals.

Hmm...if I were the next JK Rowling, I would pay for college, get a Master's degree, have electric functions installed on my car, and own a nice house. Maybe take a vacation to Europe. Go to the moon. You know, nothing all that impressive.

Seven books!? WOW! And fantasy is just a bonus. When you're published, you must tell me. I'll go be the first to buy them!

I would totally do the college thing, get my dream car and a lovely house and pay for a nice vacation now and then. Oh, and I'd make sure I never ran out of tea or chocolate. I'd probably also give to charity, for sure.

I've got similar goals when it comes to getting published &being a NY Times Bestseller. I want to be like really famous. I hope my books can inspire others to write, hopefully.

With the money, I'd definitely give to charity &I'd pay off any bills that my parents may have. I'd buy them their dream house, go on a vacation &probably buy my baby niece something out of this world amazing.

Lizzy wrote:
Seven books!? WOW! And fantasy is just a bonus. When you're published, you must tell me. I'll go be the first to buy them!

I would totally do the college thing, get my dream car and a lovely house and pay for a nice vacation now and then. Oh, and I'd make sure I never ran out of tea or chocolate. I'd probably also give to charity, for sure.

Haha, thanks, I will--I'll be so excited, I'm pretty sure everyone will know it when that day comes. Yes, tea and chocolate(dark), and definitely a lot of charities.

Amanda wrote:
Haha, thanks, I will--I'll be so excited, I'm pretty sure everyone will know it when that day comes. Yes, tea and chocolate(dark), and definitely a lot of charities.

LOL!

Shahira wrote:I've got similar goals when it comes to getting published &being a NY Times Bestseller. I want to be like really famous. I hope my books can inspire others to write, hopefully.

With the money, I'd definitely give to charity &I'd pay off any bills that my parents may have. I'd buy them their dream house, go on a vacation &probably buy my baby niece something out of this world amazing.

Me too, about the my parent's bills.

I'm aiming to be published before graduating high school (I'm currently a sohpomore). Huge feat, I know, but I figure I can succeed or graduate with the reassurance I tried. Actually, my deadline for being published is right now (age 15) because that's around when Christopher Paolini became published (but he became published in an abnormal manner). That deadline has extended to age 18.
I'm not really aiming at the fame or fortune, because I honestly don't want to end up like Stephenie Meyer. I figure if I can get a book published before I graduate, chances are I can get into a college I want with minimal pay (maybe a full scholarship? ) It's a great thing to add to a college app, I mean, how many teenagers have a published book? Seriously, I'm horrible at extracurricular activities such as volunteering, so I hope this will make up for all the summers I consumed writing when I could have planted a tree for the community or something.

If I end up not getting published before high school (of which those chances are realistically likely), then I still have the rest of my life. I'll just keep writing and trying to be published till the day I die. Writing won't be my only occupation; of course I'll have a job (I'm aiming at pharmacist). But that's simply my goal in life: published.

It would be nice to write a really awesome book like Harry Potter or Huckleberry Finn that everyone will remember, but it's okay if I don't. I just want to die knowing I published a book that was received relatively well by the world, hopefully even multiple books, and that will make me happy.

Mayaah wrote:I'm aiming to be published before graduating high school (I'm currently a sohpomore). Huge feat, I know, but I figure I can succeed or graduate with the reassurance I tried. Actually, my deadline for being published is right now (age 15) because that's around when Christopher Paolini became published (but he became published in an abnormal manner). That deadline has extended to age 18.
I'm not really aiming at the fame or fortune, because I honestly don't want to end up like Stephenie Meyer. I figure if I can get a book published before I graduate, chances are I can get into a college I want with minimal pay (maybe a full scholarship? ) It's a great thing to add to a college app, I mean, how many teenagers have a published book? Seriously, I'm horrible at extracurricular activities such as volunteering, so I hope this will make up for all the summers I consumed writing when I could have planted a tree for the community or something.

Back in seventh grade, I had that goal, too, to publish at 15, because of Paolini. And I totally agree on the writing instead of planting a tree--I have so little volunteer stuff, I feel kind of pathetic turning in my scholarship portfolio...I hope to get an agent this summer, so I might have college money by my second year. Hopefully.

Mayaah wrote:I'm aiming to be published before graduating high school (I'm currently a sohpomore). Huge feat, I know, but I figure I can succeed or graduate with the reassurance I tried. Actually, my deadline for being published is right now (age 15) because that's around when Christopher Paolini became published (but he became published in an abnormal manner).

Mayaah, you are such a deep thinker and I love reading your posts and comments.

Two things about Christopher Paolini:

1. It's funny that you chose the word "abnormal" to describe the way he got published. LOL I wouldn't call self-publishing "abnormal". In fact, self-publishing is probably the wave of the future, and writers your age need to pay close attention to it. Mind you, I'm NOT talking about vanity presses, which charge you a lot of money to print your book and then expect you to sell it to every relative you have on the planet. That is NOT a publishing credit; it's a scam. But there ARE legitimate POD publishers out there. And for those who have lots of money to do the self-publishing REALLY by themselves (Patrick Carman comes to mind), and who have the time and money to REALLY push their book regionally, it can be an excellent way to break into the fiction market.

For most of us, though, the traditional route is still best. I just think we need to be careful not to look at self-publishing as somehow not "normal."

Secondly? UGH! I read Eragon and actually skimmed through the last couple of chapters because I was so disengaged. The kid had great ideas and definitely wrote well FOR HIS AGE (all things being relative), but the book on the whole is NOT well written, is very derivative, and should not have been published in its present form. Twenty or thirty years from now, I think Paolini will cringe at the memory. Well, I HOPE he does, which means he will have grown as a writer.

I ADORE fantasy, love dragons, am glad that there are authors who still write the traditional stuff I grew up with. But I strongly believe that Paolini is NOT an author for other teens to aspire to be like.

Aspire higher! Instead of putting an age limit on your writing, put a QUALITY GOAL on it. As in, I'm going to write and write and learn and learn and be THE MOST AWESOME AND EXPERIENCED WRITER I CAN POSSIBLY BE BY THE TIME I AM 18!

Wooo! Now THAT'S a goal! It might mean you're ready to be published, and it might not. But the journey is all about growing and growing and GROWING as a writer (I'm STILL growing and I've got a novel on submission with editors right now!).

And Mayaah? With your penchant for goal-setting and your strong vision for what you want to achieve, I believe you WILL be successful! So long as you continue to learn and to grow as a writer.

I'm thankful to have met you here. One day, we will see your books on the shelves!

Authoress wrote:

Mayaah wrote:I'm aiming to be published before graduating high school (I'm currently a sohpomore). Huge feat, I know, but I figure I can succeed or graduate with the reassurance I tried. Actually, my deadline for being published is right now (age 15) because that's around when Christopher Paolini became published (but he became published in an abnormal manner).

Mayaah, you are such a deep thinker and I love reading your posts and comments.

Two things about Christopher Paolini:

1. It's funny that you chose the word "abnormal" to describe the way he got published. LOL I wouldn't call self-publishing "abnormal". In fact, self-publishing is probably the wave of the future, and writers your age need to pay close attention to it. Mind you, I'm NOT talking about vanity presses, which charge you a lot of money to print your book and then expect you to sell it to every relative you have on the planet. That is NOT a publishing credit; it's a scam. But there ARE legitimate POD publishers out there. And for those who have lots of money to do the self-publishing REALLY by themselves (Patrick Carman comes to mind), and who have the time and money to REALLY push their book regionally, it can be an excellent way to break into the fiction market.

For most of us, though, the traditional route is still best. I just think we need to be careful not to look at self-publishing as somehow not "normal."

Secondly? UGH! I read Eragon and actually skimmed through the last couple of chapters because I was so disengaged. The kid had great ideas and definitely wrote well FOR HIS AGE (all things being relative), but the book on the whole is NOT well written, is very derivative, and should not have been published in its present form. Twenty or thirty years from now, I think Paolini will cringe at the memory. Well, I HOPE he does, which means he will have grown as a writer.

I ADORE fantasy, love dragons, am glad that there are authors who still write the traditional stuff I grew up with. But I strongly believe that Paolini is NOT an author for other teens to aspire to be like.

Aspire higher! Instead of putting an age limit on your writing, put a QUALITY GOAL on it. As in, I'm going to write and write and learn and learn and be THE MOST AWESOME AND EXPERIENCED WRITER I CAN POSSIBLY BE BY THE TIME I AM 18!

Wooo! Now THAT'S a goal! It might mean you're ready to be published, and it might not. But the journey is all about growing and growing and GROWING as a writer (I'm STILL growing and I've got a novel on submission with editors right now!).

And Mayaah? With your penchant for goal-setting and your strong vision for what you want to achieve, I believe you WILL be successful! So long as you continue to learn and to grow as a writer.

I'm thankful to have met you here. One day, we will see your books on the shelves!

Thank you Authoress. Your comments are deeply appreciated, especially coming from you.
I think I will take your advice. I never really approached the whole ordeal in that way, and I think it is a much better perspective to take. I will try to advance and learn and gain experience as a writer as well. I'm so thankful to have met you also; I've read your blog posts from the sidelines but you are an awesome person outside the blog to try and encourage me. :DD

Okay, so regarding Paolini and Eragon, I totally agree with you and self-publishing. I have heard it is gaining popularity. But by abnormal, it was my belief that Paolini self-published with his family's press and they promoted his book everywhere and it didn't really go anywhere until it was brought to the attention of Knopf. So that's really what I meant, in that, his book didn't take the traditional route to publication.
And regarding Eragon itself, lol! I know what you mean. I can see why you would say Paolini needs experience with it, not only does it follow cliches, but it abuses the thesaurus (I remember looking up words in the dictionary every sentence when I read the book) and can be considered as unoriginal. But I read Eragon when I was 11 (so I guess he targeted his audience well), and at that time I was inexperienced and thought that it was the awesomest piece of literature ever written (lol...now I'm cringing). When I discovered Paolini was 15 when he wrote them, I decided to set that as my goal. Now that I'm older, I agree with you that Paolini is not the best person to aspire to write like. But his books, no matter how bad, do hold a special place in my memory because really they were the bridge for me between MG novels and YA novels.

Thank you again Authress! I hope we both grow to be excellent writers!

Amanda wrote:

Mayaah wrote:I'm aiming to be published before graduating high school (I'm currently a sohpomore). Huge feat, I know, but I figure I can succeed or graduate with the reassurance I tried. Actually, my deadline for being published is right now (age 15) because that's around when Christopher Paolini became published (but he became published in an abnormal manner). That deadline has extended to age 18.
I'm not really aiming at the fame or fortune, because I honestly don't want to end up like Stephenie Meyer. I figure if I can get a book published before I graduate, chances are I can get into a college I want with minimal pay (maybe a full scholarship? ) It's a great thing to add to a college app, I mean, how many teenagers have a published book? Seriously, I'm horrible at extracurricular activities such as volunteering, so I hope this will make up for all the summers I consumed writing when I could have planted a tree for the community or something.

Back in seventh grade, I had that goal, too, to publish at 15, because of Paolini. And I totally agree on the writing instead of planting a tree--I have so little volunteer stuff, I feel kind of pathetic turning in my scholarship portfolio...I hope to get an agent this summer, so I might have college money by my second year. Hopefully.

Yes, ditto on the hopefully.
We will be those kids who, on our portfolios, wrote stories all day and did little else. I filled out a college application imitation and was horrified at how little I've done volunteering-wise. I'm hoping to do a sort of book drive or something I'll enjoy relating to literature to fill up the empty spaces.