Enough of the gloom and doom already! Lest anyone be mislead, my writing life is not one of constant concern, of worry, of wallowing in self pity, or abasing myself at the feet of pernicious editors (well, not ALWAYS!) I can also experience moments of writing exhilaration.
What are these magic moments, you might ask? Well, theres the jolt of pleasure that accompanies the arrival of a check, which is exceeded only by the first of many readings of the acceptance that preceded it. Getting a request to contribute to an anthology is also nice but when they also want something "original" by a certain deadline it ranks lower on my happiness continuum.
I don't think anything can equal the sense of delight that comes from seeing my story in an actual magazine, nicely copy-edited and typeset, sitting on the news rack. Even better is seeing my name on the fucking cover, for Gods's sake! But NO: the best is having a cover painting done for my story - joy unbounded!
I think having someone (anyone?) speak to me at a convention about something I wrote is a thrill, especially when they aren't using four letter words and screaming. Schmoozing with an editor goes high on the list of convention pleasures and is probably equal to chatting with my peers or even some up and coming writer in the green room or at the bar ( in case you hadn't noticed; writers always congregate at the bar.)
Someplace among my jubilation list is conveying the sense of a writers life to others; speaking about composing a short story for example. It is always a thrill for me to talk about a story's scene construction, to discuss the tempo of revelation and pacing, to talk about technique and even occasionally conveying some of the brutal lessons learned. Yeah, and sometimes I might talk about trying to stretch beyond my usual range to convey something that has never been expressed before and how I deal with the disappointment when I usually fail to achieve that goal.
At the top of my list of writerly delights is that golden moment, that special tingle of absolute pleasure that comes from realizing that you have finally completed that line that closes the tale, typed that final period, and finished a story to the best of your ability.
And that's why I keep writing.
What are these magic moments, you might ask? Well, theres the jolt of pleasure that accompanies the arrival of a check, which is exceeded only by the first of many readings of the acceptance that preceded it. Getting a request to contribute to an anthology is also nice but when they also want something "original" by a certain deadline it ranks lower on my happiness continuum.
I don't think anything can equal the sense of delight that comes from seeing my story in an actual magazine, nicely copy-edited and typeset, sitting on the news rack. Even better is seeing my name on the fucking cover, for Gods's sake! But NO: the best is having a cover painting done for my story - joy unbounded!
I think having someone (anyone?) speak to me at a convention about something I wrote is a thrill, especially when they aren't using four letter words and screaming. Schmoozing with an editor goes high on the list of convention pleasures and is probably equal to chatting with my peers or even some up and coming writer in the green room or at the bar ( in case you hadn't noticed; writers always congregate at the bar.)
Someplace among my jubilation list is conveying the sense of a writers life to others; speaking about composing a short story for example. It is always a thrill for me to talk about a story's scene construction, to discuss the tempo of revelation and pacing, to talk about technique and even occasionally conveying some of the brutal lessons learned. Yeah, and sometimes I might talk about trying to stretch beyond my usual range to convey something that has never been expressed before and how I deal with the disappointment when I usually fail to achieve that goal.
At the top of my list of writerly delights is that golden moment, that special tingle of absolute pleasure that comes from realizing that you have finally completed that line that closes the tale, typed that final period, and finished a story to the best of your ability.
And that's why I keep writing.
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