Thursday, May 22, 2014

Quote of the Day (James Wolcott, on Writers’ Brands)



“As if writing itself weren’t taxing enough on mind, morale, and tailbone, novice byliners who have yet to earn their aviator wings are advised by teachers and mentors to fashion a brand—to entrepreneurialize a persona that will distinguish them from all the other content providers out there trying to hurl themselves over a transom that no longer exists. In some college communication and writing courses, playing social media like a harp is considered as integral to future success as teaching your paragraphs how to roll over and fetch. I’m just glad I came along when the writing game was mostly a matter of fighting your way up Pork Chop Hill with long naps in the foxhole and didn’t require daily, hourly upkeep and depend upon the kindness of mouse clicks. Raising a brand from infancy, nurturing it, tending to it as it teeters around the track, sprucing it up when it gets stale—it sounds exhausting, like being a stage mother, a helicopter parent to your own career.” ―James Wolcott, “From Ink to Inc.,” Vanity Fair, April 2014

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