Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Is There An Upside To Writing?

We interrupt this post for a late breaking news story:




Happy Birthday to the young lady who is now 11 years old today! And, I might add, is someone who doesn't like Justin Bieber!

We now gladly return you to the beginning of this post, which really wasn't interrupted, but in G's world, anytime I can focus this blog on other people in my life is always a good thing.

There are a lot of upsides to writing: recognition, appreciation, the opportunity to show people that there's a reason why you're randomly shouting out nonsensical word and phrases like "Yes! That'll work! No, it won't work!" and "Why did I write that?", and most importantly, proving your critics WRONG!

Whoops, did I say WRONG? Ummm...just ignore that particular word for now. Pretend that you didn't read the other three words that proceeded that last word either. It's just a figment of your Imagination!

So.

Believe it or not, writing isn't all peaches and cream, or strawberries and cream, or even Ben & Jerry's. Sometimes, writing can be a big pain in the gluteous maximus.

How? Take editing (please, take it away) for example. The other day I decided to take out a few old short stories and tighten them up a little.

Why?

Faux Reason #1: I decided to explore the Duotrope newsletter again, so I figured it would behoove me to have a few stories at the ready.

Faux Reason #2: I wasn't quite ready to pick up where I had left off with my novella, simply because the muse wasn't ready. Without my muse, I'm kind of dead in the water.

Faux Reason #3: My brain was sozzled from trying to write something that someone had suggested that I write, so I needed a break from doing that particular something.

Faux Reason #4: Got aggravated from the work week, so when I get aggravated, no original writing takes place.

So I spent the past holiday weekend working on a couple of short stories, you know, tightening the sentence structure, having the paragraphs actually make sense, having the plot actually make sense. You know, editing. Didn't really do much of anything else writing wise.

Well, maybe I did.

In any event, if this post seems somewhat disjointed and vague, you're absolutely right.

Let me tell you something, and you'll probably agree with on this particular point: it is damn near impossible to purposely screw something up. If you're good at what you do, trying to mess up what you do so well on purpose simply can't be done.

I pride myself on writing blog posts that contain two indisputable certainties: they make sense and they have a point. Trying to write a post that doesn't make sense or have a point is pretty damn near impossible.

So my friends, I promise that next Tuesday's writing update not only will make up for the vagueness of this post, but it will make your jaw drop.

Until then, have fun in trying to read between the lines.

16 comments:

  1. I had a lot of faux reasons why I didn't write at all yesterday. Got get rid of those for today.

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  2. Happy Birthday to a lovely young lady. My oldest granddaughter is 11, turning 12 at the end of June. A fun age.
    Sadly, often my blog posts are just ramblings of my life and thoughts, both of which seldom seem to make sense or have a point. :)Bea

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  3. Happy birthday to your daughter - a beautiful young lady. And good for her for not liking the Biebs.

    So you will make our jaws drop in a good way??? :)

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  4. Happy birthday! Tell her to eat some cake for me too. . . .

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  5. Happy Birthday wishes to your daughter, and hoping for a Good News Post on Thursday ...

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  6. Bearman: Thankee!

    Charles: Haven't really been doing any kind of fresh writing, so these reasons will work for the time being.

    Bea: Sometimes those can be the best to read as I compare it to doing a jigsaw puzzle. It's just the matter of reading between the lines. :D

    Chris: I will definitely pass that on to her. :D

    Joanne: Thanks, I think it's gonna be something that everyone will appreciate.

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  7. I may have to nominate your well-wished birthday child for smartest kid in the States...

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  8. Happy birthday! Glad she has inherited your good taste in music. (My jaw won't drop because I already know, right? Or is this something completely different than that which requires the Snoopy dance?)

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  9. Darth: I might have to second that nomination as well.

    She really cannot stand that particular person. I'm not sure what other kind of music she likes, but its definitely not him.

    M: No, not something completely different. Took the final plunge this morning, so keep your fingers crossed.

    I can only hope that she winds up with my taste in music. However, this is a good start.

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  10. Well, now I can't wait to see what Tuesday's post says! :)

    Happy (belated) birthday to your daughter!! And good for her for not jumping on the Justin Bieber bandwagon! :)

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  11. Lisa: I promise you, Tuesday's post will be such a biggie that I am seriously contemplating briefly reopening my FB account to let everyone know as well.

    Yeah, my daughter must be the only one that I know of that doesn't like Justin Bieber. The second he comes on the radio, she either turns it off or changes the channel.

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  12. Damn I'm late to the birthday party! Blame the jet lag.

    I think Justin Bieber is old news now isn't he? Last year my 13 year old had his calendar on the wall, this year it's Spongebob Squarepants. That says it all! :D

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  13. Joe: Oh yeah, Spongebob is one Jenelle's favorite shows. I got her hooked into that one about several years ago.

    I would hope he's old news, but here in the States, you never know.

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