Dear Diary: Pride Leads to Pain

Dear Diary:

  I have been waiting for this moment my whole life. Today is the day that my book, The Man in the Mist is going to be published! I have always written short stories and things that I personally think are terrific, but The Man in the Mist is definitely my best work. It’s a mystery about this man that… well I’m not going to spoil it. If you want to read it, you’re going to have to buy it. What I’m most excited about is that I am definitely going to be famous after a few weeks. Everybody is going to know my name and are going to beg me to write another book which I have already started because I just know the fans are going to love me. 

Anyway, I’m making a website so that my fans all have a place to discuss what they think. I also put in the back of the book that people can write me letters if they have questions or suggestions, but obviously they are mostly going to be praises because this book is nothing but pure greatness. Soon I am going to be up there with all of the great authors. There are going to be so many news interviews and I am going to ride in limos. I can’t wait! 

It’s late now. I’m going to go to bed. I’ll write if there is any news tomorrow! Good night!

Dear Diary: 

Good morning!  No letters or comments yet but I didn't expect any today because it's only the second day that my wonderful work of art has been out for the world to read. Great news though; so I get a notification every time someone buys my book and three people have bought it already! This is really good, I mean, it’s only been out for twenty four hours and three have already sold! Also, it’s still early in the morning and everyone knows that nobody buys books early in the morning. Well at least I don’t and everything I do is going to become the normal because I am going to be so famous even people who haven't read The Man in the Mist will know my name. 

Anyway, I’m going to go to lunch with a friend and I need to get ready, so I’ll write in a little bit! I’m hoping that more people will buy my masterpiece while I’m gone! 

Hi again! We were out longer than I thought. We decided to go shopping after and it's like eight pm now, so yeah, we were out late. I just checked and one more book was sold so that totals to four today which I think is decent. I’m hoping for better outcomes tomorrow! I think that it will really take off in the next few days because people will start talking about it. I’m really exhausted from shopping today, so I’m going to go take a shower then go to bed. Goodnight!

Dear Diary: Today has been really slow for me. What I have done is just sit and watch tv all day. One book was bought but that was it. I’ll write again in a few hours after I watch this movie. 

I’m back and guess what! Someone left a comment on my website but I haven't looked at it yet. I had to write that first. Okay, I’m going to go look at it then I’ll write more… Well, this was not what I was expecting. I had to read it a few times over to be sure I was reading it correctly. This is roughly what the comment said: 

Hi! I am 8 years old and I read your book. It is not my favorite but it’s ok. It was hard for me to keep awake while reading it and the story didn't seem to flow. It sounded choppy and the main character, Joe, seemed boring to me. Other than that the book was pretty good. 

The Man in the Mist was not meant for eight year olds! The purpose of writing it was because I feel like there are not many adult fiction books that are enjoyable to read. So I am just going to ignore this comment because… because it's not fair that an eight year old can judge such a beautiful masterpiece like that. She probably meant to post it on a different website. Yes she definitely meant to post it somewhere else because I wrote The Man in the Mist so well that even an eight year old could like it and if one doesn't then there is something wrong with them not my perfect story. 

I’m getting really angry now, I’m just going to go to bed. Goodnight, well it's not really a good night but you know what I’m trying to imply.

Dear Diary:

 Good afternoon! I just checked my email and you will never believe what I got! A letter from a fan!!! I havent opened it yet but I’m going to make it a habit to write it down before I look at or open things. I don't know why but I’m just going to do that.

Okay, just give me a second to open it… Also, this is not what I expected but this is kind of what it sounded like. 

Hey, It’s nice to be writing to you! The Man in the Mist seems like a perfect book for my 6th grade english class to read. Although I did have a question that's not really related to the book. So, I would need forty-eight copies for the whole sixth grade and I was wondering if there would be any way that we could get a discount. Thank you so much! 

My response is going to be something like this: 

Thank you so much for writing to me! I would love to give you a discount but here's the thing, this book is not meant to be for 6th graders and therefore I am not able to lower the price on the book for you because I feel like it would be almost against the law to put such beautiful work in the hands of young children. Kids of their age do not appreciate good writing skills which I have so I would prefer them not to read it. Thank you for your consideration.

Okay, I’m going to go send that, then watch a movie, then go to bed. Goodnight!

Dear Diary:  

Pride leads to pain. That teacher and I had a long conversation and she said that I was too prideful. Then out of all of that pride, I posted on my website that if people agreed that this was the best book in the whole world to like this post and I put it all over instagram and facebook and absolutely everywhere that the teacher could see it. I got more thumbs down than I had ever seen on any post. This teacher was really kind to me and helped me fix my mistake by posting another post apologizing for being so prideful and that got me thousands of thumbs up and hundreds of comments. So from The Man in the Mist, I learned that pride is the wrong way to go if you're trying to get people to like you. I also realized that my book is definitely not the best book in the world and that I am not up there with all of the great authors, but one day if I work hard and am not prideful, I could be.