A few months ago, I attended the Mountain Words Festival in Crested Butte, Colorado—a stunning mountain town with a world-class ski area and summertime events with music and artists (yes, authors are artists, too). I sat in on several highly informative sessions, but the interview with internationally best-selling, spec-fic author Paolo Bacigalupi stuck with me.
He told a story about how a dream influenced his career:
Years ago, Paolo was working fulltime in IT and had a few articles published. He'd tried his hand at novel writing but wasn’t getting the financial results he needed. One night, he had a dream that set him on the right path. In the dream, Paolo got a phone call from a prominent Hollywood sci-fi director and producer. The guy told Paolo that Netflix had just approved his proposal for a new series. The director went on and on about how he’d heard about Paolo’s work and had been following him for a couple of years. He knew Paolo would make the perfect fit for his team. He’d pay anything to convince Paolo to join them.
At that point in the story, Paolo paused as the audience applauded and commented, “I wish it were me.” But Paolo said, “It’s not what you think.”
Just when Paolo’s head was about to explode from all the praise, the director said, “We need someone exactly like you to head up our project’s IT processes.” That’s when Paolo woke up and decided to scale back on his IT work and jump into his writing pursuits with both feet.
He told the audience it's imperative to hone your long- and short-term goals and don't accept any tasks that sideline you from attaining those goals.
Great words to live by
Other words of wisdom from Paolo:
Don't limit yourself to a story or genre. If you put something out there that doesn't succeed, try something new (maybe under a new name). Just keep trying, and don't repeat what doesn't work.
If your agent guides you down a path that seems wrong or doesn’t understand your work–fire them.
Employ a gatekeeper (in his case, an uncompromising and loyal admin named Arlyn). That person can help you to reject projects or proposals that won't help you attain your objectives—don't spend time on writing-related but goal-irrelevant tasks.
Paolo Bacigalupi has won the coveted Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, John W. Campbell, and Locus Awards. I LOVE his book "The Windup Girl" and am reading his most recent book, "Navola." He contributed a story to the recently released Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers anthology, "Without Brakes: Fingers Crossed" which I co-edited.
I look forward to attending more conferences and absorbing wisdom from authors who have entered the professional ranks.
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