Skip to content

Andy Unedited

  • About Andy
  • Write Better

Andy Unedited

Exploring Books, Life, and Writing

The Writer’s Dream

November 8, 2007 by Andy Le Peau

America is the land of infinite opportunities. We can all be whatever we want to be, shape our own identity, pursue any career path, even create our own gods. Certainly there is a great deal of opportunity and possibility in America, but as a recent Chicago Tribune article suggests, it is not infinite. There can come a time when we need to give up on a dream–if only, in true American style, to pursue a different dream.

Emilie Le Beau gathered various experts to help answer questions such as:

*How long should you pursue a major in college if you consistently get C’s? (Answer: three semesters.)
*How long should you pursue a romantic interest if the other party has given you a clear no? (Answer: ninety seconds.)
*If a new job isn’t working out, how long should you stay before leaving? (Answer: one year.)
*How long should you pursue an acting career? (Answer: ten years.)

She also asks, How long should you try to get your novel published? To answer this she employs the services of literary agent Michael Larsen in San Francisco. His answers match what those in the industry already are aware of: “The reality is, agents and editors reject close to 100 percent of what they see. . . . Relatively few writers write full time.”

If, however, you have the internal fortitude to take an unending string of rejection slips, he (in true American style) goes on to say that he sees no problem with never giving up. Ah, the American spirit lives on!

Post navigation

Previous Post:

Changing Lives

Next Post:

One Flew Over

2 Commments

  1. Rick Regenfuss says:
    November 14, 2007 at 11:12 am

    These questions immediately spawned a few more…

    How long do I have to keep eating a meal prepared by a friend which tastes absolutely awful?
    How long should I keep running when my calf hurts?
    How long should I abstain from running when it turns out I pulled my calf muscle?
    How many Oreos should be consumed at one sitting?
    How long should I keep reading a book I am not understanding even though it was highly recommended by a friend [who cannot cook very well]?

    enquiring minds want to know

  2. Andy Le Peau says:
    November 26, 2007 at 10:04 am

    Rick

    I like the way you’re thinking. You’ve made me realize there’s many more important questions in need of attention. Such as:

    . How long should I stay at a boring party before making an exit?
    . How many times should I attempt making a soufflé without success?
    . How many scratches should I endure while trying to balance my cat on my head?
    . How long should I pretend that I actually understand why people like Facebook?

    Andy

Comments are closed.

My Books

Categories

Subscribe to Andy Unedited

Loading

Archives

Recent Posts

  • The Vaccine Hero
  • Still Amusing Ourselves to Death
  • An Editor’s Work
  • Two Visions of the Future
  • The Current Events Entertainment Industry

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2021 Andy Unedited | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes