Dear Cartoon Girl,
After years of toiling in obscurity I am finally getting some attention for my work — and not just in literary circles. I’m talking success beyond my wildest dreams. How can I appear calm and gracious when my insides are doing an all-out happy-dance?
— Unused to the Limelight
Dear Unused,
Well, la-dee-dah, aren’t you special!
Seriously, Unused, it’s okay to be exuberant. You just need to figure out which of your friends can stomach it and hang around with them as much as possible. It’s important (and not just for wildly successful people like you, but for the rest of us, too, still toiling in obscurity) to have friends who are willing to celebrate when good things happen so that we don’t end up exuberating all over everybody (remember poor Sally Field at the Oscars?). Or worse, acting modest when we aren't feeling it.
Here's what I say: Call up your old teachers. Take them out for drinks. Give them all the credit. They probably deserve it.
Love,
Cartoon Girl
Need advice about your writing life? Ask Cartoon Girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment