1. All authors drink to excess.
Not true. We owe Hemingway for this fallacious belief, I suspect. There is a small minority out there who, I’m sure, give this writing technique a good run for its money, but it doesn’t really work that well. Writers tend to be hard-working, self-motivated little bunnies who work hard for their money, and mostly when they’re sober. Really.
2. Authors have the final say on their covers.
You’re lucky if they even consult you. I often see my overseas covers for the first time on Amazon. I have a book from Russia with a pole dancer on the cover (Glenda Larke has the same pole dancer on the cover of one of her books). Others have a fortune-teller, a chick in a leather bikini and a unicorn in books that have neither fortune-tellers, chicks in leather bikinis nor unicorns in them. Don’t get me started on the matter of palm trees…
3. Editors will re-write an author’s work if they want changes. Nope. They have far too much of their own work to do. They’ll send it back with their suggestions and make the author do the hard work. And most of the time, they’re right, too. Curses.
4. All authors are rich.
Rich in ideas? Absolutely. Rich in language? Of course. Rich in the folding stuff? Depends very much on your definition of rich. And how much you drink. And in my case, how much time you spend on eBay. And if you manage to sell the movie rights.
Which brings me to myth number 5 …
5. All authors who sell movie rights are rich.
If only. You don’t get rich off the movie rights unless someone actually makes the movie. I remember reading somewhere once that Wilbur Smith had optioned the movie rights on every book he’d ever written and they’d only ever made two of them into movies. The rest just sent him a small cheque each year to keep the option open with a note saying “some day…”
Well, being an author is all about creating myths. :)
I've known artists who claimed they needed to be drunk or high in order to paint. I suspect it's the same deal as insomniacs who claim they get more work done at night. The question is: is it any good? Or better than what they'd have done sober/straight/well-slept?
Me? One sip of alcohol and I lose all interest in painting or writing or whatever. They're all seem far too much like hard work when you're drunk.
I see now. I was stuck on myth number one. Getting drunk and not getting to the writing bit :)
