Oh, the joys of the writer's life

Well, we don't wanna spread too much doom and gloom, do we, but I thought you ought to know that Dr Ian Hocking used his own blog to take up the question of depression among writers which was raised here last week. The 'Dr' bit, he claims, is not directly relevant to clinical psychology, but since he is also a writer the connection is close enough to be useful.

At the end of Ian's post I have added a couple of comments about the value of feeling in control of your own fate, and the (severe) disadvantage of feeling that your fate is controlled by other people.

Meanwhile, over at POD-dy Mouth, the Girl has things to say on the same subject: i.e. she notes the never-ending stream of complaints which come from the mouths of those who, by the grace of God, actually do end up getting published; and, by contrast, the relative satisfaction of those who do their own thing.

And Steve Clackson at Sand Storm also records, not altogether humorously, some of the 'helpful' but conflicting comments which are coming his way from potential agents and publishers.

Oh, and just in case you thought that, since you are a natural-born genius and a future Nobel prize winner, and therefore above all the mundane matters which affect other writers, you might like to take a peek at the Raw Story's excerpt from the New York Times (link from Booktrade.info.)

The NYT story relates that it is getting harder and harder to sell literary fiction. Often, as many as three quarters of the books shipped get returned to the publisher. Erm -- are we supposed to be surprised?