A friend asked why I'm not posting more stuff on a critique site to which I belong or on the blog here. Piles of content, she accused, not available for public consumption.
She's right: piles of content none of which is quite there yet.
If I know it isn't ready because I can see fundamentals that must be addressed, I hardly am ready for other comments.
Her argument is that critiques at early stages help a work along before too much is invested. It's not my argument.
Hemingway has a letter to Charles Scribner where he responds to some suggestion of low output - either from Scribner or a colleague. Hemingway's letters are a bit of unsourced monologue. Anyway, he comments on 350 words a day as being fine provided they were the right 350 words.
I'm having fun. I'm making progress. I'm feeling confident in the ability to craft short stories at the moment and the trick is crafting the short stories I want to have read. "Murder by Penguin" should never see the light of day.
I hope the after-dinner coffee is just right for you tonight. I hope the day has left you prepared to put your best work forward however many words that might be.
I'm killing a man with rats tonight. It's a lovely scene. Bloodless on the page, thankfully.
I hope you are writing. I'm going to go and do some. I might write until I hear the birds.
No comments:
Post a Comment