Stupid Writing Rules
One of the many things that THEY tell you when you’re a writer is that you’re not supposed to talk about what you’re writing, to anyone.
No, I don’t know who THEY are. THEY just get cited an awful lot.
Apparently, discussing any aspect of a project drains the energy that you’d actually put forward into actually writing the damned thing. You get all enthusiastic about telling someone what you’re doing, that when you sit down to actually write it (so the conventional wisdom tells us), you have no drive.
Well, goddammit.
Thing is, I like telling people what I’m doing–I like getting feedback as I work. It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I thrive on an audience, and sharing my projects-under-construction is a cheap way of getting an audience in advance.
Problem, though, is that THEY are right. When I’ve gone and blabbed about what I’m doing, it does tend to take the wind out of my sails when it comes down to getting words to paper (or pixels on screens, or whatever).
Feh. As a janitor in my freshman dorm once told me: “Wahl, ya caint win fer losin’…” Sounds like a wise statement, and as such it’s stuck with me since then…largely because I can’t quite suss out exactly what it’s supposed to mean. Gotta admit, though…that’s damn year Yoda-like obfuscated wisdom…only partially diluted by the fact that the Jedi Master in question was squatted down in front of the room’s heater, replacing a filter. Hard to appear wise when your asscrack is poking out from the top of your Wranglers…but hell, Yoda was a muppet (before graduating to CGI), so what do I know.
So, I’ve got a bunch of ideas churning around in my head, which I’m dying to talk about, but if I do, I run the risk of withering them on the vine. Without talking about them, though, I’m afraid that I will have a hard time sustaining interest.
So, I guess ya caint win fer losin’, after all.