Must One Have a Prescription For Cranky Pills?
I've met a lot of grumpy writers in my day. Angry at publishers for not buying their books. Ticked off at reviewers for having the gall to give them a 1-star. Annoyed with agents, critique partners, and the bleepity-bleep UPS man for not delivering their Amazon order fast enough. Here's the deal, though, succinctly put by Seth Godin:
Oh, get your undies out of such a bunch. I am not calling writers dogs. I'm simply saying that if you can't do something cheerfully, such as pursue a career in writing, then you ought not do it at all. Once again, in Godin's words:"If you choose to be in the dog food business,
be delighted to eat dog food."
"If you treat the work as nothing but an obligation,
you will soon be overwhelmed by competition that sees it as a privilege and a calling."
I'll take that a step further. If you are of the mindset that publishers/agents/readers are obliged to consider you and your work as God's gift to mankind, then the competition will definitely steamroll over you.
And then you really will be cranky.