And to extend that further: come to think of it, the person at her computer when she could be feeding the ducks, well, it depends whether it's life-giving for her in itself or is all hard slogging toward the goal she thinks will make her happy. Maybe she should keep writing. Maybe she should keep writing *but* learn to think of it as a hobby.

"Try quitting" is good advice, and the guest blogger post was great.

I also appreciate your saying, and think it should be said more often, that there's no shame in changing course. It also should be said more often that writers (or published writers) are not more special than other people.

PS Tim–"How to Become a Bible Character" is one of the most intriguing novel titles I've seen! Maybe I'll pick it up.

But most writers can't quit. They may never make a lot of money through publishing their books, but they'll keep writing anyway.

I had a guest blogger who said it best: Try Quitting.

There is no shame in deciding to stop pursuing a certain path, changing direction, and pursuing a different one. But each person has to make that determination on their own.

It's sort of a weird fine-line question…

What are your thoughts on quitting?

I go out there in the blogosphere and everyone's saying keep writing, don't give up your dreams, etc, it's traditional of course and for some people it really hits the spot. But I think about the fact that the people who are writing the really awful stuff that overflows the slushpile are reading that advice too, and the fact that they're going to spend hours in front of the computer today, hours they could have spent getting joy out of feeding the ducks in the park or tutoring their neighbor's kid… There's a guy in my small-town writer's group who writes the worst Christian poetry you ever saw, in quatrains with rhyme but no meter, with references stuck in, and he's so sweet and sincere and his dream is to quit the job he hates and live on his poetry, and I just don't know what to say to him…

It seems like fewer and fewer people read, while more and more people want to Be A Writer. And while it's mean to tell anyone to give up their dreams, for a lot of people holding on to those dreams simply means years of continual hope and failure. (But then, maybe the guy in my writer's group *needs* his dreams. I don't know.)

You seem like a smart, sensitive, no-nonsense person; I wonder if you could offer some measured advice on when to keep writing and when to put away the manuscript and find some other way to take control of your destiny.

(This is actually not a personal question. I just got my first novel accepted; and at the same time I started feeling twinges for the people who'll slog for years and never make it this far, especially since from here it's real clear this is NOT the finish line. So I'm just… thinking about the issue. I was actually hoping you might write a post on it, if it interests you enough.)

I'd mark those constant queries as spam, too.

I also appreciate your consistent advice to me that I stop worrying about things like this.

I'm not sure I agree with the irrelevant part, but I am considering giving it a rest for awhile. Maybe it's just better to work toward building something new.

You open yourself up to a lawsuit if someone can claim that you've damaged their reputation or their livelihood through what you wrote. If you've written something that someone has good reason to object to, then I guess you're not being paranoid and you have reason to worry. In that case, I'd recommend you think carefully about what you're doing and why. But if you're writing a story that doesn't portray anyone in a negative light, don't worry about it.

If you want to read up on this, I'm sure you could find a good book on Amazon or in your local library with about two minutes' effort. But be aware that once you start getting into it, it becomes very, very complicated. I took law classes back in my college days that spent entire semesters on nothing but mass media law and things like libel and defamation. I doubt you need to get that complicated. Avoid hurting people through your words and you won't have much to worry about.

This is a big issue for people writing memoirs. You DO have to be careful what you say, and get people's written permission to appear in your book, or open yourself up to a lawsuit. But remember, there's nothing wrong with simply using a name or a town or a product. The question is whether you're doing damage by using it.

However, I am not an attorney and I cannot give you legal advice.

I have written my novella, but from what I read, it is hard to find someone to publish novellas for unpublished fiction authors. Your advice makes sense for someone who is indeed procrastinating or is looking to follow the traditional publishing route. I plan to self-publish my novella, and I wish to avoid legal issues. I have been around too many sue-happy individuals in my short life. Can you please recommend a book on trademark issues?