Mom Thinks I Should Write
Apologies to marlowe1 for mentioning this, because no one should ever be encouraged to write, right? but my mother, out of the blue today, told me that she wishes I would write more. Not write to her more, but that I should try to get published.
It’s easy to dismiss her because she sees whatever writing she’s seen through mother’s eyes. But my mother has actually been published, so I have some respect for her opinion. And my stepfather says so too, and he was a broadcast journalist for decades before he moved to the country and switched to being a press liaison. xanadutoo has said similar things, and I thoroughly admire his ability to write clearly and hold the reader’s interest, even about difficult topics. I’ve edited his work and have seen some of his faults as a writer and I’m still in awe of his ability.
My mother said she wanted me to know because she thought I didn’t know. And she’s right. This isn’t any “who me?” false modesty; I take some pride in my my ability to express myself with the English language. I figure it’s the least I can do since I don’t know any other languages. But I don’t harbor any illusions that I can swim with the people that have made the written word their vocation.
It’s more just that I don’t know what makes a good writer and I don’t pay much attention to it. I start sentences with “It’s more just that…” which I’d totally edit out if I were editing. “Totally,” too.
So what is it that makes a good writer? Why do otherwise intelligent people mistake me for one? Should I think about getting published somewhere other than Pigdog? When my mother says, “why not?” I can’t answer her, but I have the suspicion that the people out there who actually are writers, who put effort into their wordsmithing, might have the answer to “why not?”
So now marlowe1, I guess that’s your cue: I’ve gotten the poisonous encouragement. Now you get to discourage me. Run with it.
The best writing, in my
The best writing, in my opinion, subconsciously connects with the reader. Anyone can write a grammatically correct sentence.
Here’s a crazy, geek metaphor that makes sense in my twisted mind…Good writing is like the “memory crystals” in the Fortress of Solitude, from the Superman movies. Brando is long dead by the time Superman gets to know him, yet they are able to have a dialog.
That is the feeling I get when I read something that moves me- the feeling of having a conversation with the author. The transcendent beauty of literature is its ability to project that conversation across space and time.
It’s a balance issue, undoubtedly. The writer should project his ideas strongly enough to evoke a response, but not so strongly that he crowds out the reader. As a reader, I want to have room enough for my own interpretation of the writer’s message.
…But what do I know, anyway?