Don’t Let This Happen To You

Well might you think me foolish. Perhaps I was but it’s better to be a trusting person than totally cynical, isn’t it?

Some time ago, when my writing was going through a difficult phase, I decided to send a few chapters to a penfriend. Not any penfriend, mind you, someone who had published short stories, or short story, as it appears now.

He had sent me some of his work, which I hadn’t found inspiring but I couldn’t say so. I wouldn’t say so because writers need gentle encouragement. Different readers for different writing and all that. He wasn’t asking me my opinion anyway, just sharing. I did respond with courteous words of praise and plucked out a few lines which I found evocative. We presume, or hope, that others would do the same for us. After all, writers know how sensitive they are about their writing and others’ reactions. His short story didn’t appeal to me but it would find other readers.

After a while, we discussed our writing lives in more detail and I conveyed the plot block I was experiencing with my novel. I am not precious about my work but I admit to being superstitious in terms of talking too much about it scene by scene. If I tell someone plot details in depth, I return to my work and feel like it’s finished, gone stale and should head for the bin.