TackingIntoTheWind wrote:If the letter from F&SF had been an ACCEPTANCE letter rather than a REJECTION letter,would that truly have made such a great difference in the quality of your story or your worth as a human being?
I think it would. Becuase if I think myself as a great writer with no exterior validation of it then I'm simply just deluding myself. Sort of like a man who thinks he's tall at a height of five foot and hasn't even compared himself to anyone else who is tall.
Of course in one of my classes many years ago, there was this guest speaker who came in and said that there is always a faster rat. I rose my hand and asked, "If there's always a faster rat then what's the point of running the race?"
She was stunned because she didn't have an answer to the question.
And really it is a lot like my own situation. If people like Stephanie Meyer are allowed to get Twilight published and have throngs of fans storming into bookstores, movie theaters, and Burger Kings then what chance does a nobody like me have?
Once again I'm reminded of how Ernest Hemmingway was an alcoholic and the way he died. And really I still wonder if he had the right idea.
