... Altair ruins my clean slate ...
January 4, 1999
4:30 a.m.
I'm listening to a local oldies station this morning, trying to find out if I have work today or not. Brigid is not going to school. Judy Collins has just sung "I've looked at life from both sides now," which may not be the name of the song, but which does play into how I'm feeling about my writing lately. Stephen Leigh wrote a wonderful piece in his journal yesterday wherein he described his thoughts on what it means to be prolific. A good year, he says, is not defined by how many words or stories one writes but is, instead based on the quality of those words. I don't think a truer concept exists. But, like any broad sweep, I think this misses the point of many of the "Not a Webring" journals. See, I believe in being prolific. Or at least I have believed in being prolific, and don't see myself giving up this value easily. So, Collins, you say. Where do you get off speaking so easily from both sides of your mouth, eh? What's a matter? Clinton got your tongue? There's no dichotomy in my thoughts, believe me. Stephen Leigh is ahead of the game from where I stand. He's a veteran whose written a lot of really good stuff. If I ever write something comperable to Dark Water's Embrace, I'll be quite happy. He's way past the learning curve most of the folks who wander through here are working to move through. But Judy Collins is singing this morning, and I'm realizing that my writing is changing. I'm moving through that learning curve, myself. Not as far along as Stephen, but further than many. I've been really quite prolific, and to be truthful, I've written a lot of crappy stuff. But I wouldn't change that at all. In fact, I highly recommend it. I think you learn by doing. I think you learn to design algorithms by coding. You learn the guts of Web design by using notepad, not Frontpage. You learn what it means to shovel the snow and dig out ice-pits left by the damned snowplows by getting out in the fifteen-degree weather and chipping the stuff off your driveway. Hmmm . . . where did that one come from? Writing is no different. That's why quantity is important to many of us. It's important that new writers put words on the page, and important that they step back occasionally and determine whether those words have any merrit, or whether they are to be avoided. New writers should be writing in order to learn what writing means. They should write a lot of words, and I think it's a great idea to track words and stories and whatnot at that stage of your career. After all, it's the only measurable you have, you know? Heck, if I tracked sales during my early career, the line would look like an American League picther's box score -- 0 0 0 0. Not exactly McGwireian. So, don't give up the quantity-based numbers, okay? But, let's not be blind to Stephen's point of view. He's talking about the goal, here. There will be a time where the emphasis has to shift, lest we continue to produce drivel at a couple hundred thousand words a year rate. I think it's all about self awareness. A guy wrote me a note a few days ago agreeing with me on my stance on what a writer is and is not. In it, he called himself a "hack". I responded saying that this is certainly not true. He's a new writer, still trying on his craft. The term "hack", in my mind, connotes a veteran who writes less-than-glorious stories merely to hit a deadline. Note, however, a hack tends to get paid for everything he writes. So let's be kind to that term in some fashion--yeah, I know, we all want to be Bradbury. But do you know how fast he used to write? When I made this year's resolutions, I used the terms "mature" and "profesisonal" in them. Stephen's point is what drove me to those words. I think I'm past my initial learning curve. My fingers actually stopped before I typed that last. How pompous can I sound? I'm past my initial learning curve. Jeeze. But I am. Being self-aware means being able to say that. It's an important statement to be able to say, if to no one else but yourself. I notice Lisa Silverthorne's end-of-the-year report shows that her rejections went down and her sales went up. Just like mine did, only better. I see Lisa as being a tad ahead of the same curve I'm on. She's a productivity minded-writer, and that's how she's learned the craft. I know, because I've seen her work for the past three or four years. Not that she can't get better, and not that I can't. But we've both learned how to tell a story. The next level is somewhere else. And that's what I'm striving for now. Professional. Mature. But I still want to be fast. Thanks for the nudge, Steve. I'm not giving up my productivity numbers, but I know what connotation to give them now.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"End the year writing better than you did the year before, and it was a worthwhile year. End the year seeing people and situations with a clearer eye (and being able to transfer that vision to words on a page), and it was a worthwhile year." Stephen Leigh |
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