Last week, I was quietly horrified to hear the story of an author who had assumed a "sock puppet" identity and had used it to trash other authors in her genre, apparently in the hope that readers would flock to her after seeing the others had such bad reviews.
Putting aside the terrible ethics of the situation, this author was afflicted with the notion that her fellow writers are competitors, that the readers are a finite resource, and any success of others takes away from her own. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Envy is a natural reaction when human beings encounter another person who is far more successful in their chosen field. We've all seen the over-night Cinderella success stories of Amanda Hocking, E.L. James, and Molly McAdams. Every author dreams of their book being widely read, and it's tempting to fall into jealousy and perhaps snipe that the successful ones don't really "deserve" to be where they are. And the most dangerous pitfall of all: comparing our work to theirs.
The quote is attributed to Franklin Roosevelt. Comparison is the thief of joy. Wiser words have been rarely spoken.
Everyone is playing their own game, with their own rules, their own challenges, and their own definition of winning. And it's a game we all can win.
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excellent post. Dealing with my own internal dramas at the moment. So i get what you're putting down.
ReplyDeleteWell said, my friend. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. The thief to joy can creep in and dishearten anyone. Best to be content with your own progress and concentrate on improving yourself than engage in counterproductive activities such as sniping at others.
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