Blog by Toby Welch

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Writing Poseurs


We've all met them - cocky, opinionated people who claim to be writing the next great novel that will rock the literary world. Yet they don't mention that they haven't penned more than one word in the five years or five decades that they've been making their ridiculous claims. Such people try to soak in the glories of the writing life while not actually writing anything.


Almost as bad is the writer who never gets past the researching phase to get to where he or she does any actual writing. Some wanna-be writers stay mired in this phase their entire lives. I met a fellow who was writing an amazing technological thriller. It was going to change the world if he could ever get past the research, he claimed. "Huh?" was my response to his absurd statement. He explained that technology is changing at such a rapid rate that he is constantly researching to keep up with all the new developments and never has a chance to actually write any of the novel.

Wanna-be writing poseurs will never amount to anything in the literary world. And their constant blathering is as annoying as those tiny gnats that circle your head when you are trying to enjoy a summer camping trip.