This is so true it should be written in the sky with red smoke every day of the year. I feel writing has that thing where you're always improving, but don't really feel it. It's just the multitude of pieces that goes into writing a story that can make the progress feel really slow. But when it feels like nothing is happening, opening up an old story and looking at the mistakes you didn't spot then, but do now, that can be very encouraging. Or cringe-worthy, depending on mood. Thanks for sharing, Iain. I'm saving this.
"And your taste is why your work disappoints you." Not only is it true in my case, it is the kind of writing I aspire to.
Well I've just had an experience that made Glass's advice comforting. I wrote a 1600-word first person piece that I've submitted to a magazine. I thought my first draft was perfect (of course!) but when I gave it to three people for comments (friends of mine) they red-lined the HELL out of it. I struggled for a couple of weeks on the damn thing, but finally ... finally... got it to something I was happy with. But damn, I thought I was so much better! Ah, life. Ah, reality.
Nice quote. It seems there are so many misconceptions about creative writing. People either think it's some mystical thing and only tortured geniuses can write, and others think anybody who's literate can write a good novel. Nobody outside of the writing community seems to think of it as work like any other job or even like any other art: the general public knows if you want to be a professional musician you have to put in many years of work with your chosen instrument. Nobody seems to think of writing as being a talent you can work at and improve at. It's odd.
I have been here one year now. I always loved reading. I must have read several thousands books, but until a year ago I never thought about how they do it, the authors. I just gladly consumed. I thought it was coming up with a story that was the problem. That is not (for me, just now, it might change) the problem. It's transforming that story to words, sentences and paragraphs that are telling the story so that someone else can understand. (It must also be interesting enaugh so they read through it.) I have several books about writing that I read parts of now and then. But to understand what they say you must have been there yourself. And the only way to be there yourself is to write, to force yourself to write and finish things. It's a craft. You simply have to practice, and practice. I practice, and practice, writing silly stuff. I love the contests here at WF. They force me to write and to finish stuff. Maybe someday I will write a story that is not practice. Even if it doesn't come to that I have greatly improved my e-mail's and PowerPoint presentations at work.
The counterpart to this advice comes from a master luthier named William Cumpiano, whose message is to be fearless, but never discouraged, in making mistakes. This is from his web site: "A master is someone who has made more mistakes than you, has made mistakes you haven't made yet, and has learned how to embrace them--thus learning to see them coming before they happen. So you go towards mastery one mistake at a time. How many mistakes can you stand? As many as it takes to be a master. The master has persevered past the errors until he's made all of them." As valid for writers as for guitar makers, or people who practice any art or craft. I might add that Mr. Cumpiano is a proficient writer as well; his book Guitarmaking: Tradition & Technology is considered one of the "bibles" of the business.
I hope that I can get something out of writing, too. Just something. To have learnt something would make me so proud and satisfied. Making things succinct and interesting and readable. I'm about that.
If the feeling you intend to convey is evoked in even a single reader, you are powerful. You are mightier than the sword!
Nice, nice words. I like to say what Daron Malakian said about music: I want to write what i'd like to find in a bookstore.
It makes sense. I hope I get there... I'm happy though that I got a project that makes me soldier on, because it's extensive, and it interests me so much I don't put it aside, but persist in it. I've been working on it for about a year now, and actually doing the writing for a few months, but it seems to be here to stay. I manage to write often, and it is, for the first time in my life, a writer's life (somewhat...). ("Somewhat" because, once I need to work in order to make money, I have a job, and I can't dedicate much time to it.) It isn't as much as I'd like, but it's frequent, and it's routine, with steps through the week, so it's weekly, and, therefore, it advances. This makes me happy. There's a lot of work ahead though, and I don't think I'll have this book in years and years... But I hope to have the first closed section of it (story #12 of 30 independent stories) within two or three years.
