Skip to main content

Oh, How I Wish For More Dry Feet

We have reached the last week of May solidly intact, and happily my 31 day sabbatical from writing, graphics design, marketing and concept art is coming to an end.  I don't really know where the month has gone, but it has been a great time of reflection as well as relaxation and I feel the flow of creativity building up within me.

As I get ready to put fingertips to the keyboard once more and get back to the business of making a living, I've started going through some of the things I've written over the last couple of years.  My hope being that I may be able to spark some inspiration for new articles and fiction to be written in the coming weeks.  It is interesting to read through the articles that I know I enjoyed writing versus the articles that have received the highest page views.  Sadly, there isn't always a correlation between what a writer feels is their most enjoyable work and what readers want to read.

Take for example, the article I wrote just over a year ago entitled Causes and Symptoms of Dry Feet.  I have not been discreet when I have mentioned to family and friends that I genuinely dislike this article.  Yes, I wrote it and it is a product borne of my own determination.  Yes, it got me through a bout of writer's block when no other idea would fall from the heavens and drop into my lap.  And yes, this blasted article continues to receive hundreds of reads each and every month, and is deemed as "popular" among my other works.  But the writing is bland, the topic is bland, the whole of it was forced out of me and onto paper by sheer act of will and not because I was enjoying what I was doing.

Then there are rare jewels like The Rochester Letter, a piece I wrote as an entry to a short-fiction writing contest that was required to begin with the sentence, "He had not been expecting a letter."  I love this piece.  I adore the way the picture painted itself before me while I typed away about an old man and his lost love.  I enjoy the few e-mails and comments I received from family and friends when it was published last fall, about how the story made them feel and what it reminded them of in their own lives.  And yet, pieces like this are quickly forgotten in the stack of submitted work and it hasn't had a recorded page view since Christmas.

This is a struggle that I have discovered many of us in the writing field, or any creative field, must face.  It is very infrequently that a piece that we love to its core becomes our legacy and cornerstone of our reputations as writers.  It is rare that we are able to open our hearts to readers and not receive critical feedback from the all-mighty "They" who get to determine what "They" say is good or "They" say is bad.  More often it is something that we slapped together without much thought or foresight and pushed aside as one more stepping-stone crossed that becomes our most widely known work, for better or for worse.

It is an odd feeling to be a writer and to not know whether or not what we write is going to make it.  It is even more strange when those "Dry Feet" pieces we push out just to make a quick $5 so we can buy a sandwich turn into golden eggs.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could know in advance which pieces would be read, and which would be forgotten?  Surely then, we would put more time and care into the words flowing out onto the page.

Perhaps this is just one of those life lessons.  Treat every article, no matter how brief or mundane, as if it will be your greatest accomplishment.  Because, it just might be.

Currently Reading:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Wait

I awoke Friday morning to a message from someone whose name was only vaguely familiar. Laying in bed, scrolling through Facebook on my cell phone, I opened the message. It was a quick note from a woman who was good friends with a woman who I have been close to for over a decade. I read it, and reeled with shock. My friend, a woman who had been with me through the best and worst of times, is gone. Taken from this life because of a driver who didn't stop at a stop sign on a country road. "Accidents happen," many say. It's true, but it isn't right. We never know when our time is going to be up. Today might be your last day, or mine. There's no way of predicting what will happen tomorrow... this evening... fifteen minutes from now. There are many tragedies stemming from this simple accident. First, a mother with fierce love of her two teenage children was stolen from them. A woman who was a pillar of support for so many has fallen from their list of who to cal...

Proofing.

The first printed copy of A Giraffe in the Room has arrived in my office. The giant "Proof" stamp is wonderful to see, and I am looking forward to picking through the pages to make sure that the novelette is ready to be released commercially. Every time writing takes a step forward - whether it is the completion of a piece, reading through editing mark ups for the first time, or getting a print proof in the mail, it is a wonderful feeling. I hope that everyone who finds their passion gets the chance to feel the pride of taking a step forward.  I will say that at under 50 pages, I think A Giraffe in the Room looks a little bit like a pamphlet that someone would hand you through the open crack of your screen door as they try to tell you about the Good News. Other than the brevity of the thing (it is a novelette, after all), I'm very pleased with the little bit of it that I've had a chance to look over. I hope to comb over it this week, and estimate that copies ...

Only Two Weeks Left

Well, I've made it through the first month of fundraising for my novel, Age / Sex / Location  and the fundraising process continues to surprise me!  Through the generous backing of 8 individuals, $600 of the $5,000 I need has been raised so far and I've been told that there are more people waiting for the suspense to build a little more before adding their donation to the mix. The project has been humbling and inspiring so far; reconnecting me with old friends who are interested in what "that crazy Denise" is up to and prompting others to make steps toward realizing their dreams as well!  It is wonderful to know that whether this fundraiser is a financial success or not, there are people out there who believe in me and who take comfort in knowing that they are watching me as an encouragement in their own projects. There is still another $4,400 to raise, and my Mom has offered to get purple highlights once the fundraiser hits the goal as an incentive to anyone who...