Clearly not in forum where there are admins and moderators, but outside of it, in the real world: Is there such a thing as a hierarchy in writing, the steps to take before becoming this and that? I think that's what was bothering me in the past because a lot of folks around me are in other professions, e.g. medicine where there is a clear hierarchy and set of rules for how to climb the professional ladder.
Hierarchy in the writing world
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I can't waste any more of my time on folks trying to step all over me and my writing, and it's probably what I'm doing to those who wrote before me so it would be good to know some rules so I can peacefully coexist. I'm off to another place anyways but food for thought all this!
Who are you stepping on and why? Who is stepping on you and why? As far as I know, there aren't any rules for orderly progression to the top of the professional writer ladder, but strewing the path to success with stepped-on bodies is probably not a good idea. 
Gravity. The more you confidently create, the more you and your bibliography curve spacetime. Your work will stand as an assertion to your existence. Books have spines. That and being published may lead to a loose and informal hiearchy, but it's art so people are free to dismiss any of that e.g. J.K. Rowling has an impressive level of success, but would you take her writing advice over some or even most people on this very forum?
'Peacefully coexisting' doesn't make any sense to me. Art can't infringe on art, nor can deltas in craft.
'Peacefully coexisting' doesn't make any sense to me. Art can't infringe on art, nor can deltas in craft.
At the very bottom of the ladder are sign writers who can't spell "accommodation".
Seriously though, hierarchies in what sense?
Seriously though, hierarchies in what sense?
Are you talking about Agents, Editors, Publishers, etc. and how they all fit together? Like, can you skip the agents and editors and go straight to the publishers?
Louanne Learning
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That's right, you can't.
Sounds like someone has been dissing your efforts. Tell me, do you value their opinion? Have you have reason to believe they know what they are talking about? Or maybe they do not get what you are trying to do?
Here's a suggestion - post a piece of your writing (about 1000 words) to the Workshop and I'd be happy to read it
If, on the other hand, you're talking about unpublished short story writers all the way up to published novelists as a sort of hierarchy of where authors sit in the eyes of readers and publishers then, yes, up to point.
Because obviously, at some point, the author's name on its own is enough to sell a work. J. K. Rowling, Murakami Haruki etc. are obviously going to get more recognition, because they've proved that their writing works. Agents and publishers don't need to question "does this author know what they're doing?". They've already shown that they do.
The rest of us poor peasants have to prove that. Agents and publishers look at us with a more critical eye and evaluate us more harshly, because our intent isn't yet clear. If I write "eleventy-eleventh birthday", am I copying Tolkien, making a grammar mistake, or saying something of my own? That matters, because readers will ask the same question.
And it doesn't really help to think "everyone is stepping on my work". That's confusing ego with judgement. Yeah, at first, it feels like it's a rejection of you personally, but most of the time, it really isn't. You're competing with a thousand other people in the same space. No editor or publisher has the time, or interest, in judging you as a person.
So don't treat it like a personal judgement. Actually listen to what people are saying, and take it on board. And trust me, "they don't understand what I am doing" is very, very, rarely a valid conclusion. If they didn't, it's usually because you aren't making your intent, or your execution, clear enough. Sure, some people like doing that on social media, or book review sites, because it gets likes and attention. So what? This isn't about them. But understand that not everyone is going to universally praise you. Wreybies, from the OG, really dislikes one of my favourite authors, Stephen Donaldson. People are allowed to have opinions.
Because obviously, at some point, the author's name on its own is enough to sell a work. J. K. Rowling, Murakami Haruki etc. are obviously going to get more recognition, because they've proved that their writing works. Agents and publishers don't need to question "does this author know what they're doing?". They've already shown that they do.
The rest of us poor peasants have to prove that. Agents and publishers look at us with a more critical eye and evaluate us more harshly, because our intent isn't yet clear. If I write "eleventy-eleventh birthday", am I copying Tolkien, making a grammar mistake, or saying something of my own? That matters, because readers will ask the same question.
And it doesn't really help to think "everyone is stepping on my work". That's confusing ego with judgement. Yeah, at first, it feels like it's a rejection of you personally, but most of the time, it really isn't. You're competing with a thousand other people in the same space. No editor or publisher has the time, or interest, in judging you as a person.
So don't treat it like a personal judgement. Actually listen to what people are saying, and take it on board. And trust me, "they don't understand what I am doing" is very, very, rarely a valid conclusion. If they didn't, it's usually because you aren't making your intent, or your execution, clear enough. Sure, some people like doing that on social media, or book review sites, because it gets likes and attention. So what? This isn't about them. But understand that not everyone is going to universally praise you. Wreybies, from the OG, really dislikes one of my favourite authors, Stephen Donaldson. People are allowed to have opinions.
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