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Announcing: Writer Appreciation Week!

August 31, 2009 by Nathan Bransford 127 Comments

I’m sad to report that Summer’s just about over. Soon the kids will be back in school, agents and editors are gearing up for a busy fall, the weather will gradually start turning cold (or hot! Hello, Southern Hemisphere!), and we will soon be learning about the exploits of bizarre people on reality television shows of questionable quality. I’m always a bit sad to see summer go.

So on this-here blog I thought we could have a week of appreciation for a very special and important person: the writer. (And yes, this may mean you.)

Nearly everyone I’ve ever met in my entire life has thought at one time or another about writing a book. There is a widespread belief that everyone has a book in them, that if we could quit our jobs and set aside enough time under a shade tree with a pen and paper we too could be the next Ernest Hemingway. Or at least the next J.K. Rowling. How hard could it be, right???

As anyone who has actually tried to write a book knows: it’s hard. Really really hard.

And as the recent blog reader survey shows, most of you have written at least one novel and just about everyone has tried, meaning you have done something that millions out there haven’t: you went for it.

You made the leap of faith, put pen to paper, devoted hours and hours and hours to building a world, and after months of hard work and sweat and blood and tears, those of you that finished had something to be rightly proud of: a manuscript.

Then you find out that the writing was the easy part.

It’s sometimes a thankless pursuit with uncertain odds, so this week: let’s hear it for the writers out there, published and unpublished. We’ll have a series of posts in appreciation of writers, those people who give us hours of entertainment, unsurpassed knowledge, and untold insight.

Hug a writer!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Hemingway, J.K. Rowling, Life of a Writer

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Toni Kenyon says

    September 1, 2009 at 3:15 am

    ::Waving::

    from the warming southern hemisphere.

    It's the first day of spring here today. Yippee!!

    Reply
  2. Missy says

    September 1, 2009 at 3:20 am

    Thanks Nathan! It was so nice to see such appreciation on the day I returned to college in hopes of one day receiving the infamous degree in English.

    I can almost hear everyone singing "What do you you do with a BA in English?" I'd like to know too, so if somebody has a clue, can they lend me one?

    Word verification: Masetat. What happens to Lestat when he has a mastectomy.

    Reply
  3. Gayton says

    September 1, 2009 at 3:59 am

    I could use some appreciation this week. Bring it on!

    Thanks for the blog, by the way. I'm trying to put together a query letter now, and you've been a big help.

    Reply
  4. Lisa Melts Her Penn says

    September 1, 2009 at 4:14 am

    Nathan, you are sweet. Thank you.

    Reply
  5. The Writing Muse says

    September 1, 2009 at 4:25 am

    Sweet!

    Reply
  6. Donna Hole says

    September 1, 2009 at 5:31 am

    Thanks for the thought Nathan. Hugs are good. Be sure to find the person who's hug you would value the most also; Constant Bloggers are also Constant Writers – not to mention all the e-mailing and fast talking (writing) you do on your client's behalf.

    Kudos to yourself also.

    And Fall is also my favorite season; the ground is warm and soft, the air cool and damp. Stew weather; blanket and good book on the sofa weather.

    And wine, of course. All aspiring writers should be wino's.

    Looking forward to the week's worth of posts in favor of writers!

    dhole

    Reply
  7. TC Laverdure says

    September 1, 2009 at 6:41 am

    Having just put my four children in school, and constantly thinking of Uruguay because I love the people. S.A. is moving into their summer and I live in Calgary, Canada and our winters are hell. I constantly am thinking about my writing and often feeling that my hope of being published is so far off in its practicality that it seems hopeless. Then I read this post and feel so inspired to move forward.

    Muchas gracias, Nathan. Beyond words.

    Hug a writer should be a bumber sticker.

    Reply
  8. Catherine Hughes says

    September 1, 2009 at 8:30 am

    I have another couple of days before my children go back to school. And the weather here in the UK is doing crazy things (torrential rain, thunder and rainbows yesterday in our little neck of the woods)!

    So summer may not be quite over for me just yet!

    That said, this is the third little bit of encouragement that has come my way during a week that ahs been really difficult. A few hugs certainly wouldn't go amiss here!

    I have to be cheeky, though, and add that an agent willing to represent my work, huggable or otherwise, would be even better!

    Onwards and upwards!

    Reply
  9. wendy says

    September 1, 2009 at 10:30 am

    Wow – indeed. Nathan and this blog are certainly tops with me.
    A post like this can go a long way to making someone's day…seem nicer. Thanks, Nathan.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous says

    September 1, 2009 at 10:37 am

    Next, should come a week, to appreciate the agents and editors who do the heavy lifting after finding those initial manuscripts..

    Bringing them

    to the status, of published work.

    Without the one, you can not have the other.

    Reply
  11. Jimmy_Jam says

    September 1, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    Here Here! My personal thanks to NaNoWriMo for making me more than a "One Day Novelist"… One day, I'll write a novel…

    Reply
  12. Mira says

    September 1, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    Nathan, I was thinking about this last night. You're wonderful.

    Sometimes when I go to other industry blogs I'm not sure the agents or the editors even LIKE writers.

    I think this is the heart of why your blog is so popular. You treat writers as intelligent, people with something important to offer. You don't lecture or chide. I have never, not once, ever, seen you make fun of a writer for anything. You're direct and offer advice, or make requests, but it's from a dialogue of mutual respect.

    I really appreciate you and what you offer here.

    Reply
  13. Oscar says

    September 1, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Geez! I'm always getting in on the tail end of the comments, but HOT-DIGGETY, hugs to all writers! Thanks, Nathan.

    Reply
  14. Lisa Dez says

    September 1, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    SS at S-

    Hugs after beers could be dangerous. Do you really want to go there?

    Reply
  15. Carpy says

    September 1, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    Thank you, Nathan. You've touched my heart with your Writers Appreciation Week. In fact I had a dream last night that it was time to get back in the groove, so again, thank you!

    Reply
  16. slcard says

    September 1, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    I love it! I'm a hugger, I admit it. Hugs for everyone! Except Ulysses. I can respect degrees of personal space. Plus… ew. Pit stains? How did you ever get that date in the first place?

    Reply
  17. lesleylsmith says

    September 1, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    I'm glad to see someone in the biz admit "Then you find out that the writing was the easy part."
    Thanks!

    Reply
  18. coffeelvnmom says

    September 1, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    I think a lot of us needed a pick-me-up like this! Thanks, Nathan!

    Reply
  19. Alena Thomas says

    September 1, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    Thank you, Nathan, for always thinking like a writer…wait, a minute, that may not be a good thing. Oh, well, it's nice to have good company as you fall into madness.

    Reply
  20. Eileen Flanagan says

    September 2, 2009 at 12:16 am

    Thanks so much for the mention, Nathan!

    Reply
  21. Lord Likely says

    September 2, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Huzzah! A fine notion indeed!

    Let us all hug right now! Clothing optional.

    Reply
  22. Seidel says

    September 3, 2009 at 4:13 am

    I'm not a hugger but I love writers and I like beer. I'll take the beers without the hugs although I'll probably hug after the beers.

    Yea for writers and all the glorious words and ideas, published and unpublished. Yea for being out there past my shadow of light as I type at night. Yea for being a reader so I have an audience as a writer. Yea for me, a reader who is a writer.

    Let's have a beer. Should have a national 'Buy A Writer A Beer' Day. Or week. Year.

    Here's to you. Cheers

    Reply
  23. Anonymous says

    September 4, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    Yay, me!

    Reply
  24. Karen Amanda Hooper says

    September 6, 2009 at 2:58 am

    Hug? Somebody buy me a shot. And make it a double please. Thanks Nathan!

    Reply
  25. Jen W says

    September 10, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    That is TERRIFIC news, Nathan! You totally deserve it after all the help you've given to us writers. I've never posted a comment before but have read your blog religiously since I started looking for an agent earlier this year, and lo and behold, my book will be published by Sourcebooks in 2010! I will be at your Books Inc. workshop on Sunday and congratulate you in person!

    Reply
  26. Shira Miller says

    September 11, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    Congrats on your book! You have been a terrific resource for writers and deserve all of the positive energy back tenfold. Will be happy to use my big mouth to tell everyone to buy it when it comes out…keep us posted!!

    Reply
  27. Anonymous says

    September 12, 2009 at 4:26 am

    Hey Nathan… have you heard of Hug a Writer Day? https://www.hugawriter.com/

    Reply
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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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