So my website has been up for a month today, and a number of people seem to have stumbled across it. I don't know what brought them here, but I hope you liked what you read if you did, and apologies if you were actually looking for something else...
I have purposely not told anyone I know of the existence of this site, partly because it has the potential to be construed by those who know me as shameless self-promotion, and that people may raise an eyebrow at the presumptuousness of publishing my work online when I am not, by my own definition, published anywhere else. I don't care if people who haven't met me think that, as it's unlikely I'll ever meet you. So there.
Also however, there is the whole issue of what feedback you receive as a writer. Writing can be frustrating and annoying, joyful and exhilarating in equal measure, but it is when others read your work that you really put yourself on the line. Every writer craves acceptance and praise; they want their words to affect people and make them think, make them cry, make them laugh. They need to elicit some form of emotion from others. The problem is that people who love you or like you will often love your work by default; out of well-meaning but misplaced affection. At the very least, they will TELL you they love your work, but this amounts to the same thing. Unless you know when they are lying.
So the opinion of strangers is a valuable thing. They can comment free of the shackles of familial or friendly affection, with no regard for the potential awkward silences at birthday parties and over Christmas dinners...
Criticism hurts, regardless of who it comes from, but it is the most valuable thing a writer can ever receive, provided they take it on board. I don't believe any creative writer ever writes purely for their own entertainment, not if they are entirely honest with themselves. They may hide their work away, but they secretly hope someone will one day read it, and love it. The truth is that sharing writing is the scariest and most sensible thing about the whole craft, and genuinely honest opinion is vital.
I have done no writing in the last month, though I am now brimming with ideas, at the exact time that my marking workload is reaching its peak. Typical. There will have to be time made however for a new assault on my most long-standing project - a revamp and an attempt to get further with it than ever before. It must happen. So get your comments ready. Try to be constructive though. Cruelty is not the same as honesty. Watch this space.
Assuming you know this space is here, of course. It seems a handful of people do. Hello those people, and thank you.
I have purposely not told anyone I know of the existence of this site, partly because it has the potential to be construed by those who know me as shameless self-promotion, and that people may raise an eyebrow at the presumptuousness of publishing my work online when I am not, by my own definition, published anywhere else. I don't care if people who haven't met me think that, as it's unlikely I'll ever meet you. So there.
Also however, there is the whole issue of what feedback you receive as a writer. Writing can be frustrating and annoying, joyful and exhilarating in equal measure, but it is when others read your work that you really put yourself on the line. Every writer craves acceptance and praise; they want their words to affect people and make them think, make them cry, make them laugh. They need to elicit some form of emotion from others. The problem is that people who love you or like you will often love your work by default; out of well-meaning but misplaced affection. At the very least, they will TELL you they love your work, but this amounts to the same thing. Unless you know when they are lying.
So the opinion of strangers is a valuable thing. They can comment free of the shackles of familial or friendly affection, with no regard for the potential awkward silences at birthday parties and over Christmas dinners...
Criticism hurts, regardless of who it comes from, but it is the most valuable thing a writer can ever receive, provided they take it on board. I don't believe any creative writer ever writes purely for their own entertainment, not if they are entirely honest with themselves. They may hide their work away, but they secretly hope someone will one day read it, and love it. The truth is that sharing writing is the scariest and most sensible thing about the whole craft, and genuinely honest opinion is vital.
I have done no writing in the last month, though I am now brimming with ideas, at the exact time that my marking workload is reaching its peak. Typical. There will have to be time made however for a new assault on my most long-standing project - a revamp and an attempt to get further with it than ever before. It must happen. So get your comments ready. Try to be constructive though. Cruelty is not the same as honesty. Watch this space.
Assuming you know this space is here, of course. It seems a handful of people do. Hello those people, and thank you.