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Balázs Jámbor's avatar

Great post! Well, does it really matter how people react to my stories? I believe yes, everyone wants to be loved for their works and everyone wants to find meaning in their "job"... But writing stories is not a job. It is entertainment. And care about what people think is contraproductive. We can't tell how people would read our stories, and we don't even have anything to direct or have an influence on how they read our stories... The only thing we can do is to entertain ourselfes; and out our works out there.

And I don't think editors could add so much so our works would be better. Maybe copyeditors can help, but editors are readers with their own tastes... Sometimes they help. I wrote a story about kids, and when I was about publishing it, my friend read it and said that they were in the wrong age for their school... This problem was easy to correct. But same thing: it was like copyediting. Not really editing.

The main thing I think is to entertain ourselves. To be productive. To make time for writing. And write. Of course there will be many people love the stories and many people won't... Who knows which group will be the louder one? We only can write our next stories, after all.

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Harvey Stanbrough's avatar

Excellent comment. Thanks!

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Tiffanie Gray's avatar

Outcomes! Yes! As soon as you start thinking about the outcomes you burden the story! It's just an extension of "plodding"...Thinking about controlling how the story should go, only now you are thinking about not only controlling the characters, but trying to control the reader!

I think (at least for me), that we've heard the anecdotes of writers of the past, where they tell about the child or adult going through some unimaginable problem/situation and later writing to the author/artist and thanking them for the book/art that truly saved them/helped them in their time of need. And so we want that, too. That affirmation that we are a superhero saving lives with out little words.

Releasing that weight of saving the world, or even just one person, is dropping a burden of rocks we didn't even know we were carrying! Now we are riding the story/art at speed, into the sunset and not carrying the mule (or ox!) on our backs.

Thanks Harvey for the fantastic, as always, advice.

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Harvey Stanbrough's avatar

Thanks, Tiff.

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Nan Dozier's avatar

Great commentary as always.

When an English teacher was asked why the course was almost entirely reading novels?

The reply was that stories are how we learn of places and times and characters that we could not know about any other way, to inform our lives. That justified all the “light” reading I have ever done!

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Harvey Stanbrough's avatar

Absolutely.

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Manisha's avatar

I agree with you and the others that responded. All true especially removing yourself from outcome. It goes in other things like golf and life in general. Happiness is removing expectations and being present.

Writing, the act of creating and utilizing our imagination, is a human experience. Writing is a gift to appreciate. Writing is being human. It’s what separates us from rest of the animals.

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Carrie's avatar

Reading your stories might also inspire someone someday to want to be a writer.

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Harvey Stanbrough's avatar

Apparently reading mine don't. (grin)

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Carrie's avatar

🤣

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Carrie's avatar

I already wanted to be a writer. Stephen King did that. Way back.

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Harvey Stanbrough's avatar

He's helped me along a lot too. I read his work almost as religiously as I read Hemingway's. Nobody can beat either of them for depth or great storytelling.

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Carrie's avatar

I haven't read any of his newer stuff. Need to.

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Carrie's avatar

Especially now that I have several horror stories in the queue.

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