101 Reasons to Stop Writing

May is International Slushpile Awareness Month

 
This Month's Demotivator:

Demotivators

Sometimes a well-written essay is just not enough to convince people of the error of their grammar, the sloppiness of their style, or the futility of their ambition. In these times, the juxtaposition of concise sarcasm and a photograph digitally altered to add subliminal poignancy is often the only way to communicate an idea to people who cannot concentrate on anything for more than ten consecutive words, and yet fancy themselves writers.

101 Reasons’ Demotivators are your fears and anxieties about your creative inadequacy, rendered in visual form. A new Demotivator is published each month.

Click the images for more details, and to download a large version suitable for desktop wallpaper/background.

March 2008

ALLEGORY
What you say your story really means,
after someone else tells you what they think it really means.

Allegory Demotivator Mar 2008 (Thumbnail)

February 2008

SOLITUDE
You think it will make you a better novelist.
Everyone else thinks you’re being an asshole.

Solitude Demotivator Feb 2008 (Thumbnail)

VALENTINE
Honey, I love you.
But your writing sucks.

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January 2008

MEANING
People don’t read books to find meaning in their lives,
but to take comfort in someone else’s misery.

Meaning Demotivator Jan 2008 (Thumbnail)

December 2007

GENEROSITY
Don’t give copies of your book to your friends or family.
You’ll halve your market.

Generosity Demotivator Dec 2007 (Thumbnail)

CHRISTMAS
Stop writing and take the day off.
Go kiss somebody.

Christmas Demotivator Dec 2007 (Thumbnail)

November 2007

NaNoWriMo
The challenge of an arbitrary target and deadline
without the burden of any expectation of quality.

NaNoWriMo Demotivator Nov 2007 (Thumbnail)

NaNoWriMo
Anyone can be a writer, if you set the bar low enough.

NaNoWriMo Demotivator Nov 2007 (Thumbnail)

October 2007

HORROR
The escalating sense of fear that Stephen King has already thought of your story.

Horror Demotivator Oct 2007 (Thumbnail)

September 2007

INSPIRATION
The act of forgetting where you stole your ideas.

Inspiration Demotivator Sep 2007 (Thumbnail)

ASPIRATION
You will never be this good. You’re not even Titus Andronicus good, much less Hamlet good.

Aspiration Demotivator (Thumbnail)

August 2007

WRITER’S BLOCK
The subconscious urge to abandon writing altogether

August 2007 Demotivator 1 Thumbnail August 2007 Demotivator 2 Thumbnail

July 2007

EDITING
Regardless of skill, the quality of the end product
is determined by the raw material.

EDITING Demotivator Jul 2007 (Thumbnail)

June 2007

PATIENCE
It takes around two years for a novel to be published.
Sometimes it takes longer to accept it won’t be yours.

PATIENCE Demotivator Jun 2007 (Thumbnail)

May 2007

SLUSHPILE
You spent two years writing the novel, three months rewriting the opening chapters,
and four seconds reading the submission guidelines.

SLUSHPILE Demotivator May 2007 (Thumbnail)

April 2007

SLUSHPILE
Somewhere in there is the perfect manuscript.
For another agent.

SLUSHPILE Demotivator Apr 2007 (Thumbnail)

March 2007

DETERMINATION
There’s a word for someone who never gives up writing.
And a special room.

DETERMINATION Demotivator Apr 2007 (Thumbnail)

February 2007

EDITING
Your chance to make a contribution to the world of literature.

EDITING Demotivator Apr 2007 (Thumbnail)

January 2007

NATURE
If your book is published, this forest is gone.

NATURE Demotivator Apr 2007 (Thumbnail)

December 2006

WRITING
The recording of life as it passes you by.

WRITING Demotivator Dec 2006 (Thumbnail)

 

10 Comments

  1. Nik:

    Ever thought about t-shirts for your logo? I’d love to wear one to the next bloody convention I get stuck working.

  2. Funny you should mention that.

  3. Wow! I love the store! *fumbles around for the ol’ charge card.

  4. Kramer auto Pingback[...] courtesy of 101 Reasons To Stop Writing] Page: 1 2 Jan 8, 2008 · Link · Repond Related Posts • 01.08.08: Leave [...]

  5. these are really cool. i would love to many of them on a t-shirt. esp. “Anyone can be a writer, if you set the bar low enough”
    luv, luv all of them.

  6. sorry that was supposed to be; …I would love have many of them

  7. [...] other news, the Demotivators page has been fully updated, and now shows all the Demotivators published on the old blogspot site, [...]

  8. Kramer auto Pingback[...] 101 Reasons to Stop Writing has compiled all of its “demotivator” desktop wallpaper onto a single pa…This one cuts straight to the heart of me. It’s so true that I can’t bring myself to use it as desktop wallpaper. This one I find much funnier, but it still hits very close to home. [...]

  9. links from Technoratirade u zasluženoj opskurnosti, ubijajući šume i uzdržavajući poštanski sustav, pitajući se što dovraga rade krivo.” Misija ovog blogera je zaustaviti ih, tako mu Bog pomogao! Osim razloga, koji se redovito dopunjuju, tu su i dobro nam znanidemotivirajući posteri, također orijentirani na prestanak pisanja. Počevši od prosinca 2006. najmanje jednom mjesečno je dodan po jedan novi demotivator za pisanje, pa se tako dotaklo inspiracije, spisateljske blokade, uređivanja, aspiracija i slično

  10. Kramer auto Pingback[...] I haven’t laughed yet btw, but the supersize one was the best. Sort of: Demotivators more and more and even more __________________ Atheism is a non-prophet [...]

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The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.
Walter Bagehot
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