03/08/2006: "And I Thought it was Just Me"

Excerpt from TAKE JOY: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO LOVING THE CRAFT by Jane Yolen:

Anthony Burgess once said that the dream seldom survives the first paragraph.
And Edith Wharton, quoting an old French proverb, worte, "I dream of an eagle, I give birth to a hummingbird."
All writing is about that gap -- no, that chasm -- between expectation and final product. A veritable Grand Canyon, it is the very thing that induces writer's block.
I say that we writers should just expect that disappointment, not be surprised by it. Expect it, sidestep it, move on.

Replies: 3 Comments

on Wednesday, March 8th, kim said

did you pick a winner for your contest? it did congrats to the winner

on Wednesday, March 8th, Rhonda said

This passage really spoke to me. I think every writer probably struggles with whether or not the writing lives up to the imagination.

on Thursday, March 9th, Jen said

Kim, the contest winner for February is Deborah Oller. I just got my March updates in...very late. crazy Bad Jen.

Yep, Rhonda. I have this vision and then it never turns out that way. wink

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