Comments on: Fix Bad Stories by Getting Rid of Yourself

By: editor

editor — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:48:23 +0000

Wow! You made my day, Sam!

If you can pull the email together, I’d love to see it.

By: Sam Snoek-Brown

Sam Snoek-Brown — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:44:06 +0000

You should know that I was drawn to this post by some guys in a writers group I’m in. Their students at the university where I teach, but they’re damn good writers and I like to sit with them as equals. Anyway, this post of your spawned a massive, rambling back-and-forth via e-mail among the writers group, and I’m currently writing my own response to their dialogue. If I can talk them into it, I’ll see if we can compile the whole thing into a fat e-mail and fire it at you soon.

Thanks for generating such wild discussion. And thanks for hemoglobin! I love details like that.

By: editor

editor — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:38:01 +0000

This is what I love about writing–there are as many “right” ways to go about our craft as there are “wrong” ways, and most of the time the two categories overlap.

Absolutely, Sam. This is what makes it fun for me too. At the end of the day, each writer must find their own way.

I used to be the miserable, drunken writer, but it never really stuck because I couldn’t take myself that serious for very long. Any frustration I have these days tends to be due to a lack of time to write and the amount of mental energy my day job consumes. That said, when I am writing, I’m really very happy.

By the way, blood tastes like copper because of hemoglobin, which in turn contains iron. So maybe, writing is like chewing nails?

P.S. I’ve added you to my list of feeds so I’ll be keeping an eye on you too! Thanks for stopping by!!!

By: Sam Snoek-Brown

Sam Snoek-Brown — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:38:02 +0000

Strange. At least half the advice in this post is exactly the opposite of the advice I’d have given, and the other half is phrased in very different language. But I like everything I see here. This is what I love about writing–there are as many “right” ways to go about our craft as there are “wrong” ways, and most of the time the two categories overlap.

Thanks for the post–I’ll be keeping an eye on this blog. And happy writing! (Or, if you’re THAT kind of writer, then miserable drunken writing!)

By: Karen SWim

Karen SWim — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:09:32 +0000

This is incredible advice and the last point socked me in the gut. Ah the sign of a great blog post, hits you where it hurts. So, thanks and now I’m off to write that story.