No, the question is: how did the hell you find it?
By "wanna-be" writer, do you mean unpublished? If so, then that means I'm one of the wanna-be's, and in my defense I have to say that not all of us are asshats and psychotic fucktards. Some of us do the research and don't ask questions unless we've Googled until we can Google no more; and we do know to keep our mouths shut when it's appropriate to. Some of us know that we probably won't ever be published, but we don't send hate mail to publishers or bombard websites with poorly spelled death threats because we haven't made a kajillion dollars. Some of us know our place.
I'm being very defensive, I realize, but please understand that from my POV Mr. Rice (and others I won't mention) seems to be seen as representative of a very large portion of non-published writers - perhaps because of the massive attention, albeit negative. And I'm saying this as much to Mr. Rice as to the rest of you: a very silent majority of unpublished writers are cringing in shame right now because of his absolutely appalling actions. Not all of us are like this. Most of us aren't. Most of have respect for the profession and for those who've worked so hard and sacrificed so much to have some measure of success. We're not all "poor things".
I think I've worn out my welcome with this, but I thought it needed to be said. My apologies - I won't open my mouth again, at least until I've published something and have earned the right to.
Epacris,
Try someone at the Fashion Institute of Technology (bookstore or library or both), or a university that has a good - as in professional - drama program (hence a good costume department). Also call The Drama Book Shop in NYC (I put the link below) - they have an incredibly knowledgable staff. The link posted by xeger has other links to online reference books, libraries and collections - it's a good starting point.
http://www.dramabookshop.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp
Teresa, you are teh shiznits.
At the least, you'd have thought he'd be able to correct the typos the second time around, especially "publshing".
Julia - if you want to know how fanfiction.net really works, go to the LiveJournal community "deleterius". After reading a few entries, you'll quickly discover exactly what purpose ff.net serves in the Internet universe. It is indeed teh slushy kewl. :D
http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=deleterius
Teresa,
"Ordinary" was obviously not the best word to use. I agree, he's not ordinary. Actually, he's savvy enough to have made the connection between "recognizable celebrity name = some form of success", although he might not understand what success entails and how/why people have earned it. He most certainly has some innate understanding of how things work in the world. It's just terribly skewed.
I spent many years in theatre, and most of the time I was surrounded at auditions by hundreds (thousands) of men and women of all ages who had absolutely no interest in the art and craft of acting, but merely wanted to be rich and famous. They genuinely believed in their assumptions that they only had to desire something to be entitled to it. If I tried to speak to them about my many years on stage, about hundreds of thousands of hours spent learning my craft, about Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neil and Beckett, about poverty and degradation and never having a dime in my pocket, their eyes glazed over. They couldn't make the connection. In turn they would point to magazines and say "they're famous - why can't I be?"
It's no wonder that this extreme naiveté towards the life of the artist and the cult of celebrity and money has spilled over into the world of writing. If Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton and Madonna can be "writers", why can't anyone? Why can't I, an average joe with a great idea and teachers who can't be bothered to tell me the truth about the writing "life" and my talent, NOT sell my wonderful manuscript and make millions of dollars? Look at reality shows, look at the hundred of pop stars and WB-actors that are churned up and out into the world every day. They've all "made it" - why can't we all?
Sadly, I don't think this is a joke, and while it's terribly funny, it's also, well: terrible. In my opinion, it's less of a bad reflection on this man than on the (incredibly lazy) so-called "teachers" (of dubious morals) who told him he was a good writer (!) and of the culture that surrounds him and tells him that this action is not only appropriate, but will reward him in ways that can't be obtained by simply trying his best and graciously accepting the fact that he is ordinary. It's no crime to NOT be rich and famous - at least, it's not supposed to be. Unfortunately, everything around him whispers something different.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2004 | 7 |
Total: 9 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Livia Llewellyn:
Show all comments by Livia Llewellyn.