Dam. Dam. Dam.

J.J. Harrison shot the picture at left of the Gordon Dam in Tasmainia.

So much of the effort of writing interesting fiction comes down to finding the way to navigate the dam - like the one at left.

We have these stories. They're the bits and pieces we've contemplated and sketched and made half-finished works about.

Now, we need to release the fiction into well formed rivers of prose.

Some of that effort comes from being comfortable with our story-telling. Some of it comes from being comfortable with the approach of the fiction we craft. Believe me, fiction craft changes over time. Audiences become more discriminating all the time.

We're all finding ways to let the torrents of prose loose. Relax. Breath. Write another draft. Smile.

Smile.

It read better when you were smiling as your wrote it. I believe that now. I'm older. I can taste the words with a more refined sense these days.

Smile. Open the gates. Let some water flow. You're the dam to your own prose. Smile.

Happy New Year.