Climbing?
November 22, 2000
7:35 a.m.
For the past couple years, Linda Dunn has been equating improvement to climbing a mountain. She's focusing on the actual words she creates when she says this--which, I think is a good thing. I don't set goals for myself around improving my words. This isn't because I don't think improving your writing is important, but because I figure that's a natural outcome of constantly applying oneself to the task. Yeah, I know, that's not always true. But it's good enough for me in my little world, and since this is my place I'll play by my rules. Instead of "quality goals," I tend to set goals for myself at a higher level. Stories completed. Manuscripts submitted. And, yes, material sold and published. The problem with this approach is that while I'm "in charge" of the first two, I need some support from editors in the area of the last measure. And that can get a guy down. I'm thinking about that this morning because the site needs revamping--as I mentioned before, Netscape's new browser has messed me up again. I've been looking over the site and seeing things I've done over the past couple years. This has been a really odd few months for me because they've been pretty productive--two novelettes, a first draft short story, and a piddling start at a novel outline. At the same time, I'm getting that draggy feeling that things aren't happening fast in the big picture. Other people have the critical monster sitting on their shoulder saying their work is terrible. Mine doesn't comment on whether my work is good or bad, but instead smirks at me and slashes me to the bone with a single comment. "No one wants to read stuff from an average guy in Indiana." And it's easy to believe, because ... ... the climb up this mountain is danged slow. That's all there is to it. And sometimes it seems like you're not really on a mountain at all. Sometimes it seems like the slope is perpendicular to the ground, and the oiled surface rises all the way to the heavens. But it's not true. Not true at all. Over the past few weeks I've signed a contract, finished and mailed a story, sold a story, been named to the preliminary ballot of a major award, had someone bug me to let them read a story of mine, received news that a friend was interviewed on Strange Horizons, and had several other little tidbits of things happen that weren't happening a year ago, or two years ago, or three. So, looking at the last few years has given me perspective, and I feel better about that.   Have a great day.  You think too much Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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