Riting
So, I do this every now & then. I resolve to do more writing, and maybe get my shit together to do a few stories, or something that might have some enduring value in the world. Then I scrawl a few pages of crap and lose interest. Gotta get my act together a bit better this time.
I read a lot. I like to read. I love to read. There are some really amazing books out there that have altered the way I look at, and think about, the world. Its time I gave something back.
Its intimidating though. All those people wrote those things which changed my life. How could I presume to emulate them, how could I have the hubris to think my meagre talents could have any such effect on the world. But then I think, well, I've read a lot of books, an awful lot of books. Most of them haven't rocked my world, most of them I haven't even considered reading twice. Not that I regret reading them, or that they haven't, in aggregate, affected who I am. But, they weren't what I would call amazing.
Then there's a few (but not too few to mention) that I have regretted reading, mostly I never finished them. There are a fair number of books I haven't finished, most of them are OK, even pretty good books, some of them are classics, they're just not my thing, not to my taste. But some of them were crap. Not just pulp, or cheesy, or badly written, or derivative; some of my favourite books are one or more of the above. These ones were a combination of all those things, plus a lack of imagination, and general crapness.
The point is, there's some really shit books out there, and a whole bunch of mediocre ones, and a huge range of good ones, and just a few really good ones. I may not be able to write a really good book, but surely I can manage a mediocre, or even better-than-average one. I know how to spell, I know what good writing looks like, I can string a tale together. If I put my mind to it I can come up with a decent idea, turn it into a plot and build a story, with actual characters in it that sound like real people and do things that people will want to read more about, so that my story won't be one of those few absolute stinkers.
Theodore Sturgeon famously said "Of course 90 percent of Science Fiction is crap. 90 percent of anything is crap". I don't expect to escape the truth behind that. Probably I will write piles of stuff noone in their right mind will want to read, and stacks of stuff that just isn't that interesting. But hopefully in amongst it all, there will be a few percent that will find an audience and a few percent of that which might actually be classed as not-too-bad.
Here's to reading.
I read a lot. I like to read. I love to read. There are some really amazing books out there that have altered the way I look at, and think about, the world. Its time I gave something back.
Its intimidating though. All those people wrote those things which changed my life. How could I presume to emulate them, how could I have the hubris to think my meagre talents could have any such effect on the world. But then I think, well, I've read a lot of books, an awful lot of books. Most of them haven't rocked my world, most of them I haven't even considered reading twice. Not that I regret reading them, or that they haven't, in aggregate, affected who I am. But, they weren't what I would call amazing.
Then there's a few (but not too few to mention) that I have regretted reading, mostly I never finished them. There are a fair number of books I haven't finished, most of them are OK, even pretty good books, some of them are classics, they're just not my thing, not to my taste. But some of them were crap. Not just pulp, or cheesy, or badly written, or derivative; some of my favourite books are one or more of the above. These ones were a combination of all those things, plus a lack of imagination, and general crapness.
The point is, there's some really shit books out there, and a whole bunch of mediocre ones, and a huge range of good ones, and just a few really good ones. I may not be able to write a really good book, but surely I can manage a mediocre, or even better-than-average one. I know how to spell, I know what good writing looks like, I can string a tale together. If I put my mind to it I can come up with a decent idea, turn it into a plot and build a story, with actual characters in it that sound like real people and do things that people will want to read more about, so that my story won't be one of those few absolute stinkers.
Theodore Sturgeon famously said "Of course 90 percent of Science Fiction is crap. 90 percent of anything is crap". I don't expect to escape the truth behind that. Probably I will write piles of stuff noone in their right mind will want to read, and stacks of stuff that just isn't that interesting. But hopefully in amongst it all, there will be a few percent that will find an audience and a few percent of that which might actually be classed as not-too-bad.
Here's to reading.
Labels: writing
1 Comments:
I for one would love to read!!
You can do this... love your post!
Way to go you!
CM
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