I heard back from one of my other submissions. Another acceptance. Too easy. Something bad must happen soon. I will become complacent, or editors will realise that deep down I am not worth publishing . . .
Success can be a troublesome thing to deal with. My previous four attempts were turned down on the basis of obscurity, being late and not being good enough (twice). In some ways I find that easier to deal with, which is really the wrong way round. You often see articles about how to cope with rejection, but nothing about how to cope with success. Maybe I should write that as an article – it would be more original than another one about coping with rejection.
That’s a question – is it possible to be “more original” or is it like pregnancy and uniqueness? You can’t be “more pregnant” or “slightly pregnant”. You can, according to some people be “nearly unique” , “almost unique” and various other types of unique, but they all really mean “not unique” and are a misuse of the word. I saw one example on eBay that was properly used but hilarious in context.
Someone ha listed an item as “rare”. This, in eBay speak just means “I have not seen one before”. Five sales down the page was another of these rare items, which tends to suggest they may not be rare. The second one, which made me laugh, was described as “unique”. Clearly it wasn’t.
And that’s what made me think about my statement above – can you be “more original”?, Or is it simply “original” or “not original”? Have I fallen into sloppy writing habits?
What do you think?
Stone on the Floor
I think that it is the original rather than the more that is wrong but what the word in its place should be is a good question as they say. Perhaps the answer is to go for less rather than more. Less mundane? Less tedious? Less hackneyed? The world is your oyster.
Yes, they all work far better
I suppose it is an awkward way for describing slight gradations in some category and not leave it as a binary “is or isn’t”. Works better for some words than others.
Success can feel like being placed on a pedestal, with a long fall down imminent. 🙂
Yes, it does. Fortunately I’m on quite a low pedestal and am well padded. 🙂
More original doesn’t quite work…
Yes, it struck me that it was wrong as I wrote it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
😉
Definitely the wrong way round
🙂 Strange, isn’t it?