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| Flood of '83 |
In a region where weather forecasters
are never taken seriously, and we don’t believe
a cloud means rain before the musky scent of creosote pervades, tropical storm
Newton has bucked the odds and barreled up from the Baja. Flooding began as
soon as it crossed the border and the eye has yet to arrive. I hope we’ve
learned to drive since last time…
But that’s not what I meant to talk
about today as it’s once again the first Wednesday of the month when the Insecure
Writer’s Support Group convenes to discuss whatever is on our writing
minds. The question for this month is “How do you find the time to write in
your busy days?” That’s easy since I
write all the time; anywhere and everywhere. I once wrote the first line of a
story on the back of a doctor’s appointment card. I went on to finish the story
but subsequently missed the appointment
because I had tucked the card away in my “story ideas” drawer!
After spending a few years just sitting
on the shore, though the sea of publication hadn’t lost its allure, I decided
to kick off my shoes and trepidations and wade back in. See, last time out, I
met a shark right off and swore I didn’t need this. Actually, I still don’t,
but I want to.
Recently, I was appalled by the story
of a writer’s disappointment at being rejected simply
because while the publisher sat on the work for nearly a year, other work in the same genre was in the process of
publication! Should we take that to mean
that all mysteries have been solved, and
no one else will ever fall in love, so don’t bother writing about it? Was it
the (publisher’s) timing?
It’s been my experience that there
will always be a “brightest star”, but not the same one every night. So who’s
to say a writer’s work; when polished just a bit, won’t shine above the rest? I
hope the writer saved her work for
brighter days; I sure would have.
It’s these and other questions that
remind me of a story about a magnificent marble statue which drew so many
visitors from all over the world that the marble tile complained to the statue
about the unfairness of being stepped on, while the statue was revered. “We’re from the same stone, you know.”
“While you resisted the sculptor’s painful tools,” replied the statue “I decided I could endure and thusly was
transformed.”
It’s Be Kind to Editors and Writers
Month!
Do you believe there’s room for more in every
genre? If you were to create a whole new genre, what would it be?
