Transcript

Welcome to Write Wrong, a Podcast that talks about writing from the POV of a writer who’s been doing it wrong for far too long.

 

This is Episode: 000 Prologue to the podcast or: an audio illustration of why people skip prologues.

 

Hi,  I’m Cortney Hamilton, and I’m a writer. And here’s why you’ll want to listen to this podcast. For one, I haven’t sold any books. Yet I’ve written two. I haven’t published any books. Yet I’ve written two. I had an agent. I lost an agent. I’m still in debt from an MFA degree I got years ago and paying off my loans with a day job I tolerated and now miss more than I thought I would, due to the coronavirus. Okay, wait, so this doesn’t sound so good. Hear me out. 

 

Take two: Hi, I’m Cortney, and I’m a writer. And I work my butt off every day to write and get published, and I figure maybe you do too. There are a lot of us out there, and I thought we might commiserate, inspire, and advise each other as we work our way to getting published. 

 

I’m not an instructor or guru, or one of those charming cult leaders who seductively indoctrinate people to follow them blindly to their poisoning.  

 

I can’t teach you how to write. I can only tell you how I’ve written wrongly and what I’ve done and/or are currently doing to rectify those wrongly ways. 

 

In fact, think of me like a climber ascending Mt. Everest, and you’re a climber, too. And we’re dangling from the precipice, and I’m looking at you to see how you’re going to get out of this fix, and you’re looking at me hoping I know, and through our collective anxiety and hoarse screaming, we’ll find a way to survive and ascend to the top of the mountain together. Where we’ll probably have to wait in line for an hour depleting our precious oxygen supply while the people ahead of us finish posing for their selfies on the summit.  

 

“Stop flexing, Chad, no one can see your pecs through your coat!” 

 

This podcast is from the perspective of a writer who hasn’t been published, yes, but who’s working it out, just like you. And sure, I might give advice, but I’m also taking advice. I’m brainstorming and thinking out loud, but I’m also listening and thinking inaudibly too. 

And I possibly could be wrong or definitely incorrect at any given time. That’s why this is a give and take because I want to hear from you. I’m just investing the seed-giving to get us started. Later, after a few episodes, I’ll expect a return on my investment where I’ll earn back all that questionable advice I gave...from you. 

 

My hope is that you’ll respond through email or send me a voice message and tell me where I’m wrong, where I’m right, and send questions to me that I have no expertise in answering. Because when you’re questioning things, you’re more susceptible to answers, especially when those answers might sound very close to being right. Which will just lead you to more questions, which lead you to more answers which will lead you to the mythic renewal symbol of the snake eating its tail, who, with mouth full of tail, will finally tell you that you are what you’ve been seeking all along. 

Then you can start a podcast to show how much you’ve learned from all my mistakes. 

 

And I’ll post those questions and answers on my show. I might read them aloud or play an audio message you’ve generously ranted and recorded for me. Then you can listen and cringe at the sound of your own voice.  

Ideally, I’d like to interview some of you. Not because you’re published, but because you’re writing and struggling and have learned things that I need to know. And if you can’t be bothered with all of that, you can just tweet at me. Because that’s what Twitter is for: The perpetual correction machine.

Because, like me, you’re in the trenches, and you know that when you fall into a deep trench, the only way out is to cry for help. 

 

And that’s what I hope this podcast will be. A cry for help. To you and from you. Because I get down on myself too. But I still have hope. 

Inside, I am mostly rainbows and straitjackets. Sure, those things sound counter to each other, but sometimes you need to tie yourself up into knots before you’re enfeebled from the struggle to allow yourself to see the rainbow.

 

Have I sold thousands of published books? No. Have I sold hundreds of published books? No. Have I published a book? No. But I’m still a writer, and if you are currently writing, have written, want to write, think about writing, dream of writing, or even force your kids to transcribe while you dictate a lavish prosey list of groceries, then we’re pretty much in the same boat. 

 

And that’s why this podcast exists because I have come a little and hope to go further. You have come a different way and hope to go further, and maybe together, we can talk about what further means. 

 

Because sometimes the only light you can see in the tunnel is the one your friend is bogarting a few steps ahead of you. 

 

So give this podcast a chance. Three episodes. That’s all I ask. Why three? Because it’s the number of the divine. The number of harmony, wisdom, and understanding, the primary colors that make up all other colors. And most importantly, according to my last fortune cookie: ’third time lucky.’

 

Each episode will be twenty minutes give or take. And at the end of every episode, if you’ve stayed that long, you’re gifted with an inspirational quote. Today’s quote is from Simone Weil, a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist who some people considered insane. She says: 

 

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” 

 

Doesn’t sound so crazy to me, Simone. So thanks for your attention. And hopefully, we’ll be listening and talking to each other soon.