July 10, 2002

• If you're to be a writer, you will write.
  
  Some of what you write will be crap.
  Some of what you write will be gold.
  
  You will not always be able to distinguish the crap from the gold.
  
  Likewise, others may tell you your gold is crap, while others proclaim your crap to be gold.
  
  So much of the time, you will not know your crap from your gold.
  
  Even being published doesn't mean anything - look at all the crap on the bookshelves, side-by-side with all the gold.
  
  This is the source of much angst for the writer.
  
  Oh, yes, being well-read helps, as it allows you to internalize the 'rules' of the form you hope to imitate. To write mysteries, best to read lots of mysteries. To write romances, best to read lots of romances. Etc. Getting an education in the liberal or fine arts can help, too, for they teach you the 'rules' that make 'great literature.'
  
  In the end, however, you can do nothing but write anyway, and try to do so without self-judgement. Also, ignore most of what people tell you about your work. Just write. And after you write it, share it, whether you or anyone else thinks it is crap or gold or something else entirely.
  
  What else is there to do? Hide your light under a bushel with your fear and misery?
  

  • 11:16 am
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