Oh, and that "writing a novel" thing?
On the Literary Front, I've added some to my new novel, finishing up a 24th page 2 days ago. I've started researching Literary Agents during my library computer time, and though less daunting than submitting directly to publishers, it should be noted that, apparently, Agents are almost as bombarded by bad fiction as publishers themselves. Poor bastards. Half the ones I've found won't take submissions from as-yet-unpublished writers. The other half admit that only 10%-20% of their clients come from random submissions.
I look at all the books in the bookstores and libraries, and think to myself "Every one of those is a person. Someone, like me, wrote that, submitted it, got it published, and made money off of it. I know I have as much talent as they do. I just have to DO IT. Find a story, and tell it." In my positive moments, I think it's so easy... But I know, deep down, that in reality, it's going to be a struggle. Not the writing, that's coming fairly easily, really. The editing, yes, that'll be difficult, but I'm not nearly so attached to my first drafts as I was once upon a college time. I'm much more critical about what's needed and not, what's going to sell well and not, what'll go over well and what won't, etc. Especially with regards to how things sound and flow.
No, what I think is going to be difficult is getting past the gatekeepers. Agents, publishers, booksellers and all that. Sometimes it seems like their jobs are about keeping us writers down. That's patently not true, they have little interest in that. No, their job is to find the few books a year that will MAKE MONEY. As much as it chips at my soul, Paris Hilton's book about her Chihuahua will likely make more money than a finely-crafted tale about the plight of a park ranger on Mount Kilimanjaro trying to save his precious mountain for future generations.
A blog I was reading recently asked an interesting question: which writers from our current era will we still be reading in 50 years? Which of the current batch will have that longevity that goes beyond the book-of-the-week, and enters into the realms of memorable literature? It's a flabbergasting question, from my perspective. What will future generations take away from the books and stories we publish today? Will we be remembered for Stephen King and John Grisham novels? Or will the greatest literary impact of our times come from Harry Potter novels? I think we all have to remember, with time comes perspective. Few of the "great stories" were huge sellers in their own time. A few, but not many. If you had to make a list, what would you say were our generation's greatest literary works?