Man, I feel your pain on that, only possibly worse, if that makes sense.
You were the guy unfairly left behind.  I was the one who was
(metaphorically, if not realistically) ahead of you, the one who had the
money and talent and scholarships and pissed it all away.

It took me 13 years of Naval service after getting bored with college to see
that.  Now I see that I had it oftentimes too easy and that other people who
did deserve all the accolades and sobriquets who never got them.  So from
that POV, I apologize on behalf of my fellow assholes at the time.

Now, as for the rest of it...

I know how you feel.  Here I am, at 33, trying to finish up my college
degree.  I see those books and see the craptacular writing.  I see the
movies and see the swiss-cheese quality of the writing.  I buy the manga and
wonder how the hell the person/people got the contract based on the (lack
of) writing skill.

I, like you, want to be up there, not for fame, not for glory, not for cash,
but if only to prove that there's someone out there who still gives a damn
about writing.  I believe I once wrote to you about something similar a few
months ago, and I'm glad to see I was very wrong on what I thought.  It's
very nice to know that someone still cares about fanfiction being more than
just a hobby or a popularity contest, but as a possible step to where people
need to go.

Just keep going; sooner or later, you'll get there.  I hope that you, and
everyone on this list who is gunning to go pro because of the same beliefs
do so.  I don't believe that "you can't make it" for one reason or another;
in the end, more than anything, what will get you there is perseverance and
hard work.  Not luck (though it helps), not talent (look at all the hacks
with paychecks), not even degrees (we as a society focus on them too much at
times, as though they're golden seals), but rather the belief that "I am
DAMN good and that I belong there!"

You're not the only one gunning.  ^_^

Best of luck,
-Rob



             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'