{"id":1077,"date":"2011-08-15T19:12:36","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T23:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2011-08-15T20:57:41","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T00:57:41","slug":"the-publishing-dream-and-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/miscellaneous\/the-publishing-dream-and-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"The Publishing Dream and Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dreams shift, fortunately.\u00a0 When I was teaching a segment on The Great Gatsby<\/em>, I asked my students to write about their dreams and goals, and at the end of it, one of my students asked me what my dreams were.\u00a0 I\u2019d written sincerely about how I hoped to become a better teacher, one who could inspire students and still be left with a sane life outside of school.\u00a0 It seemed like a worthy goal, a grounded one, but it had none of the soaring hopefulness I\u2019d had as a teenager, and I knew my students looked at me like I\u2019d lost something.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t as dreamless as pathetic, doomed George Wilson, but I certainly wasn\u2019t Gatsby, either.\u00a0 No matter how corrupt ol\u2019 Jay was, you have to admit he could dream big.<\/p>\n

\"\"Several people have asked me if publishing Birthmarked<\/em> was a dream come true, as if they expect me to be dizzyingly ecstatic about realizing ambitions I had decades ago.\u00a0 Conversely, I\u2019m aware that several other writers have felt an unexpected, immobilizing disappointment after their books have been published.\u00a0 They crash when they discover publishing hasn\u2019t lived up to their expectations.\u00a0 They dreamed of a new phase of glory, fame, wealth, and respect, or at least a promise of future publications.\u00a0 In either case, the assumption is that publication is a nearly unattainable dream, achieved only through heartfelt hope and striving, with the potential for bliss or disillusioned devastation in its wake.<\/p>\n

Publishing my YA debut was not a dream come true for me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve said before that I didn\u2019t expect to sell my novel, so I also wasn\u2019t caught up in fancy dreams about publishing it. \u00a0I wasn’t motivated by such dreams. \u00a0Instead, I wrote it while still aiming for my attainable goal of becoming a better teacher.\u00a0 I\u2019d already achieved the dreams that have brought me the most happiness, namely marrying my true love and raising my children.\u00a0 I already had meaningful work with my teaching job, so I wasn\u2019t depending on writing to expand and fill my life with joyful work.\u00a0 I\u2019ve certainly never been interested in fame or the bother that must entail.<\/p>\n

What, then, do dreams have to do with my writing?\u00a0 Do I not have any aspirations?\u00a0 Do I not even let myself dream for fear of failing?<\/p>\n

What I have is reality, with all of its beauty and grit, all of its joy, work, and disappointment. When I get great writing news, I rejoice, knowing the glow won\u2019t last.\u00a0 When I get bad writing news, I let myself feel horrible about it, knowing it will pass.\u00a0 I wake every morning with a sense of pleasure and purpose thinking, \u201cOh, good.\u00a0 I get to write today.\u201d \u00a0I have projects to work on: revising Book 3, checking copyedits of a story, writing this blog, brainstorming my next project proposal and guest blogs due in a few weeks.\u00a0 I have bills to pay, and laundry to fold, and groceries to buy.\u00a0 It\u2019s raining a steady deluge outside my open window, and the immediate present is supremely alive to me.<\/p>\n

I do have dreams for my future. \u00a0I want more meaningful work, whether it\u2019s teaching or writing.\u00a0 I want more dinners with my family.\u00a0 I want my country to find peace and renewed prosperity.\u00a0 I want more rainy summer days.\u00a0 I want to grow very, very old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dreams shift, fortunately.\u00a0 When I was teaching a segment on The Great Gatsby, I asked my students to write about their dreams and goals, and at the end of it, one of my students asked me what my dreams were.\u00a0 I\u2019d written sincerely about how I hoped to become a better teacher, one who could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1077"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}