What's your writing dream?
The responses came in fast and furious.
"Gina" said she'd love to write a short story anthology just for herself.
"Carolyn" thought it would be cool to finish the first draft of her novel.
"Mike" said he'd like to be published in an online magazine.
And so on and so on.
I read all their posts in surprise. I double and triple checked the instructor's question. And I totally felt like shouting (I didn't, but I wanted to, in whatever way you can shout on an internet board):
"Come on, people! She said writing DREAMS! Not goals. DREAMS! As in, FANTASIES! They don't have to be based in reality. They don't even have to make sense. Surely as writers we can DREAM bigger than this!"
I found my classmates' responses so underwhelming. I couldn't tell whether people were afraid to be honest, or whether it was really possible that nobody in this writing class had a really big writing dream. Of course we all want to finish our novels. Of course we'd all like to be published someday. That's why we took the class.
But she said writing dream. Which, in my opinion, refers to a level far beyond goals and reasonable expectations.
So here's what I posted:
"My dream would be to write a bunch of bestselling novels, one of which gets made into a movie starring Angelina Jolie. I want to be interviewed in Entertainment Weekly and I want Stephen King to talk about how much he loves my work in his monthly column. I want to be touted as having redefined the thriller genre and, after I'm dead, I want critics to have heated debates over who "the next Jennifer Hillier" will be."
Feeling a little giddy from allowing myself a moment to imagine the impossible coming true (because yes, I realized how completely over-the-top it sounded), I hit "post".
Silence.
Nobody responded.
Days passed.
Finally, the instructor popped back in to check on the discussion and said, "This is what I was looking for, a really big dream! Good for you, Jennifer. Why not add winning back-to-back Pulitzers to that list? Because that's definitely mine!"
And I thought, Nah. I'm perfectly okay with just commercial success. <grin>
So what about you? What's YOUR writing dream? Let's hear it, and don't hold back!
32 comments:
Ok, ever since I was little I thought it would be cool to win an Oscar. I don't know why, but the little gold man calls to me!
I never began to know how this was even remotely possible.
Then I wrote a book. Hmmm... Still a long-shot, but if I manage to write a book that gets made into a movie to which I write the screenplay (never mind that I don't begin to know how to do that...)
Maybe, just maybe, someday an Oscar could be in my future.
Ok, maybe in my dreams... but as you say, might as well dream big!
Darn it, Jennifer, have you been sneaking peeks inside my head? You just about said it all, if you could just translate the genre references over to the sci-fi world.
OK, I can relate to "finishing a first draft of a novel". I am someone who reckoned one of the perks of studying mathematics at university was the complete absence of the need to write full sentences of any description, so actually writing a novel really did seem an impossible dream a few years ago.
Now I've climbed that mountain, publication (heck, even representation) still seems worlds beyond reach, and therefore perfectly dreamworthy.
But, no holds barred?
I want to be compared (favourably) to Frank Herbert. I want youngsters to spend lunch hours at school reading my books like I read as a kid. I want teenage girls to dream of kicking ass like Shayla Carver. I want science geeks to have heated arguments between classes over the fractal folding of space and the physics of particle beam weapons. I want to inspire a new generation to pick up books again.
And I want to earn enough from my bestsellers to be financially secure so I can spend more "me" time with my art, my writing, and my family.
LOL! That's awesome! I love your dream.Matter of fact, it works pretty well as my own dream.
Add in,
"PK Hrezo's work has helped so many people, and she's done so much to give back to the community. Oprah Winfrey returned to daytime TV just to interview PK for the world to learn more about. It's just one other way of proving the effect PK's work has had on others. Since PK happens to be Oprah's neighbor in Maui, the interview was an easy set up, where Oprah hopped over for coffee and had cameramen film PK's magnificent writing studio overlooking the ocean." *smiles big, eyes glazed*
lol! Ah, that was fun. :)
My dream is to be on the NY Times Bestseller list for, like, ever. Richard Branson would invite me and my husband to Necker, his private island, and we would toast my success. My memoir would be turned into a film, but it wouldn't star Julia Roberts. No, it would have to be somebody fun, who could do comedy and drama – somebody like Sandra Bullock or Drew Barrymore. Oh, yeah, I'd buy a chateau, here in France, and invite my writer friends for w/end retreats. What do you say J.K.?
My dream is to see my novel in Barnes & Noble among the other amazing writers I both know and look up to. I would love to have several novels around B&N for people to enjoy. Even better? If they would email me telling me how much they love it.
People lined up outside the book store because I'm doing a book signing. One of them, of course, must be the requisite ex-boyfriend who treated me like dirt and isn't he sorry now, but he sheepishly asks me to sign and I do, with a scribble and a smile and no words. I am wearing Chanel, with a gorgeous pair of heels, and my hair doesn't look, for once, like a raccoon slept in it. I stay late, in order to accommodate everyone who showed up, and the staff brings me non-stop peppermint mochas. Finally, I go home and turn on the tv and there is one of my novellas made into a mini-series of the week on ABC! (and not ABC family; this is ground-breaking, emotional, adult stuff here) I sip expensive white zinfandel (does that even exist?) and take off my shoes and watch.
Mmm, great post....
I would love to entertain, have my books sell well, and be able to hire a housekeeper to do all the things around the house from the proceeds so I can spend all my time writing.
Heh. I love it. My writing dreams... I want to be featured on CSPAN2's BookTV. I want teachers to debate whether to teach my dystopian novel instead of Brave New World (and I want mine to win). If at all possible, I'd like some fanatical group to host a book burning where they'll have such media coverage, millions rush out to buy my work just to see what all the hubbub was about - and then those millions love it so much, they pester me to write more books. And while I'm dreaming big, I want Ray Bradbury to come back from the dead just because he wants to read and hawk my books.
Oh, and I want a big house paid for with my writing profits, where I will have a cabana boy bring me fruity drinks by the pool.
I do understand the small dreams, though. For the short term, I'd just like an agent and a book contract. ;o)
I want to sit down in a Manhattan Café and chit-chat with J-Franz from equal to equal, because we sell and equal number of book.
My dream is that a daytime talk show will highlight children's (picture book to YA) books once a week with the author as a guest. One, authors will get publicity and respect that they deserve and two, stay at home moms will see that books are important for their children. And of course I'd be a guest for my best selling middle grade book and upcoming YA that someone already bought the movie rights for.
To promote my upcoming book on Good Morning America. Something that would be more realistic if I had an upcoming book.
That's a fantastic story!
I would love to be the next big thing to hit romance. I'd love to be on the New York Time Bestseller list, appear on talk shows, and have a movie made from my books.
But I'd be happy just being able to support myself through my writing. That's my realistic dream and with a little luck, maybe it will come true!
Love it! My dreams feel gigantic: to send a copy of my first novel to the high school teacher who inspired me most, to be a YA household name like John Green or Laurie Halse Anderson, to have my books adapted for the big screen, to be on the set during filming (with Hubby, of course - OMG, how cool would that be??), to do book tours and speaking engagements (even though I hate to speak in public - I can get over myself), and, well, to be able to write full-time.
B.E. - if you hurry, Bradbury won't need to come back from the grave. He's a spring chicken at 90!
What a fun post! Seriously, my biggest writing dream is to have my novel chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection, and I'm invited to sit around one of Oprah's awesome houses with seven or so of her fans who were chosen to discuss my book with me. And then there's the big day where I appear on her show (tick tock, tick, tock -- better get my book finished before her farewell season ends...Hey, voice in my head, shut the hell up. This is my DREAM!).
That would, of course, sky rocket my sales, putting me at the top of the New York Times Bestseller's list which is, of course, another of my dreams.
Thanks so much for the follow, and I look forward to following back!
my dream is to have a multi city book tour and draw crowds like Rihanna does I want to be known worldwide.
OMG I love this question and everyone's post! I am infamous for my ridiculously over the top dreams, so I totally would have been right there with you in the writing class!
Here goes: I want my books to be NYT and international bestsellers, and have all sorts of movies and merchandise created about them. I'll go on fabulous book tours and get called by movie stars and other celebrities to have lunch because they want to meet me. Oprah will totally come back to daytime TV (love that PK!) and do an interview. I'll write half the year from my home in France or Italy and spend the other half in the US.
I could go on ad nauseum, so I'll stop there :)
How much do I love reading about everyone's dreams?
I'm glad I asked. Because now I know I'm not the only one who fantasizes about this stuff!
Great question! Fantastic answers!
Right now my pathetic dream is to finish my edits/revisions.
I'm that fried.
Haha, yep, commercial success is quite good enough for me! I love dreaming big :)
Damn you!!! We must agree to share Steve. I don't want him to just rave about how awesome I am and if he wrote YA, then he hoped he would be as good as me...I also want to totally hang out with him.lol
I want major best-sellers, which are all turned into movies...starring Reese Witherspoon. But I don't want to be like hounded with publicity, so I will only agree to talk to Matt Lauer and Oprah...maybe Conan...and Craig Ferguson but only because his accent is cool and he's friends with Gerard Butler.
How long can this fantasy be? 'Cause I can go on. I have DETAILS.lol
This is like every time my dh actually purchases a lottery ticket and see that someone won and we start the whole Imagine if...and then we go through the dreams of what we'd do with all that money. It's so much fun to dream big, even if the dream doesn't come true. It's something to strive for, right?
So, my dream is to write a kick ass book that goes into auction where I walk away with a million dollar deal for a multiple book series. It would get made into a movie and teens everywhere would be walking around with apparel and buttons and posters that have the title of the book, or famous slogans/sayings/lines from the book. They would come out with board games, and video games and, awww hell...DOLLS. Fucking dolls of my characters as collectibles to be displayed for all their friends to see. And there would be new, unknown talented actors who would casted in the rolls and who's careers would be changed forever! And I would live a very comfortable (not over extravagant) life. Though, I would DEFINITELY want to own a yacht and travel all over the caribbean. And I would want to travel all over the world and I would love for someone to do a double take, wondering if that is actually the author who's picture she saw on the inside of the back cover of that kick ass book she LOVES.
Oh, and I wouldn't mind doing a few talk shows to talk about my book or help promote the movie (which I must have some major say in), but I'd only want to be on the really cool late night talk shows like Conan or Ferguson or one similar.
Hhahahahaha...casted in the rolls. You know what I meant. :-) I got so excited typing that out, I didn't even catch my errors. Screw errors. I was rich and famous there for a little while ha.
p.s. One of my biggest dreams is to see some random stranger with my book in their hands. How absolutely mind-blowing would that be?
Mine begins with an agent breathlessly calling me, with a message something akin to, "Do you realize how good this is?" Then it progresses to a book tour, signings, astonishing sales numbers, a "year's best" list or two, and countless sightings of strangers reading my book on the subway.
Movie options would be great, too. But I'm not picky. A Pulitzer will suffice.
adam, I read the piece you wrote here for the halloween contest (that you won!). Dude, you got skillz. It's only a matter of time. Catch me on the A,C, or E line reading your book :-)
Ha, great post! While we're dreaming big, I'd echo you with the movie bit. I always see my books played out in my head as movies, so it would be WAY cool to have a movie made from one of my books. Not Angelina Jolie though, since I write YA. :o) I always pictured Zac Efron as the MC of one of my novels, heehee.
We've got to dream big; it's what gets us through the drudgery of revisions! I'll have to second you on the Stephen King comment -- that would be freakin' awesome. And I'd like to have a trilogy published by Tor before I turn 40.
So Awesome (yes, with a CAPITAL A)! Good for you for really posting your dreams! I want Stephanie Meyers success with Laini Taylor accolades! I want Dark Forest made into a movie, even though my NaNo idea is the one that everyone keeps saying "this would make such a good movie"! I want to be on OPRAH. And Ellen.
I love that you want Stephen King to talk about how much he loves your writing! Totally going to happen. I can feel it!!
These are all amazing.
Like Joann, I dream of one day being on an airplane and the person next to me is reading my book.
And not hating it.
Well, crap. Thanks, Joann. I was sure I read his obit last year. (And now I'm wondering which writer's death notice I did read.) My apologies to Mr. Bradbury. Reports of his death weren't just exaggerated, they were all in my head. D'oh.
I want a subgenre named after my style of writing.
Tolkien made epic fantasy. Howard made Sword and Sorcery. Selby made _____.
That's my dream.
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