What Happened To Him?

That was the question asked by a blogger on his or her post featuring The Series of Unfortunate Events among other books. It was a question that stuck after I left the blog and it got me thinking.

What happened to him? What happened to Lemony Snicket? Did he phase out or did he just continue writing under another pseudonym? There’s no news about him, they did not continue the movies, and he just… stopped.

Personally, I love The Series of Unfortunate Events. I did not read all the books, no idea why I didn’t, but I love it nevertheless. I now intend to reread them and finish the series. It was a great series, Lemony Snicket was a catchy pen name, and there was even a game…. so what happened to him?

With that I came to a simple conclusion; not everyone can last forever.

Some authors have their short burst of success, while some have a long run of success. Obviously we all want to be the one with the long run of success, but often times we find ourselves comparing with those who have just entered the limelight.

Why do we compare ourselves with the young ones who gained success overnight instead of the old ones who have been there for many years? Why must we look down on ourselves for not doing great things at a younger age, when those who had long runs did not gain success until they were older?

As writers, we should aim for more years of inspiring lives than a few years of fame. If we aim for the latter, we’d be asking ourselves ‘what happens next?’ ever so often. That is a worrying question… don’t you think?

The Series of Unfortunate Events had a pretty good run, but it faded out like the end of a movie. Lemony Snicket will be remembered but his name does not pop up on any new book (that I know of). All we can do now is ask, “What happened?” (There's even a Yahoo question on that.)

For me, I would rather have a long run of influence rather than a short burst of fame. I don’t want to be worrying about my next move, I just want to go with what I have and continue doing what I love. I want to be big one day, but the kind of ‘big’ that lasts for a very, very long time. It may not happen overnight, but the wait might be worth it.

So the next time you find yourself comparing with an author, pick the one that may not be young but is still kicking all these years. They are the ones that would motivate you to keep going and stay strong :)