"We will take the enticing lie over the obvious truth every time.
Why? Because we really, really want to. The truth does not sell very well. It is an ugly, sweaty thing requiring work and discipline. We want to believe there is an electrical device that, when strapped onto our love handles, will give us a meaty abdominal six-pack while sitting on our fat asses eating Milk Duds. We do not like the truth because it is simple, we do not want the truth because it is hard, and we do not trust the truth because it is free." - Pat Walsh, 78 reasons why your book may never be published and 14 reasons why it just might, excerpted from Reason #38: You Fell for Self-Publishing HypeI highly recommend this book and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman as must reads for anyone who wants to write and get published (or, like me, who dreams of writing and getting published one day). They give a lot of food for thought.
Now, all I need is some electronic device I can strap to the back of my head to short out my inhibitory reflexes and get me to just do it (actually, it would probably need to be strapped to the front of my head, since neuroscience indicates that the frontal gray matter is responsible for inhibition - or maybe an iron bar would do the trick as well).
Pat Walsh begins his reasons you (I) will never be published with this obvious gem: The Number One Reason Your Book Will Never Be Published Is Because You have Not Written It.
Comments
exchange links?
hmph, sometimes we do need white lies, don't we?
and since nothing is perfect, therefore we need to have a nice wrapping skill. hehehehe...
but dont let it be a manipulation.
liz: that is what some neurophychologists think too - we lie in order to make life bearable. I prefer the truth. Always have.
I have no objection if you want to post a link to my blog. I am a little more cautious and slow. Though, as you can see, I have slowly built up a number of links over the years.
ancilla: I hate losing posts that way too. I now (most times) compose it in Word and then cut and paste. I am not comfortable with telling any lie. However, sometimes creative explanation or understanding may be better.
barbara: hmmm ... your blog seems to have you pegged as a pretty committed mover and shaker.
MOI: you inspire me with your tales of submission. Is there a lot of competition or noise? In reading 78 Reason, I get the impression that the author is genuinely looking for something decent to publish, but there are so many hopeless submissions that it is difficult to weed out.
Sinc eI have never tried any submission, I have no idea what the feedback is like.
I think that the quote you present is really compelling. Why is the truth so overshadowed? Dieting is a great example for this. It is true...exercise and a balanced diet are simple concepts, yet so many choose instead to pursue fad diets and miracle pills.
We complicate our own lives. But even that is too simple a precept. People prefer to think of obstacles and such as far more complicated and thus, overwhelming.
breal: a good quote transcends time and disciplines. One thing that can block us is the way we break something down. If I like cooking, then I might break it down as follows: (1) go to the store and buy ingrediants, (2) come home and cook. If I dislike cooking, that task is broken down into a litany of steps: (1) get in the car, (2) drive through town, (3) fight traffic, (4) if I hit all the red light ... (53) wash and peel the carrots, (54) chop the carrots ... (76) line the pan with foil ... (88) scrub baked on foodstuff from the pots, (89) wash all that silverware, (90) wash the whisk – that is always a pain ...