Under New Management

Find your path and walk straight down the middle.

A few days ago, Tiel challenged me to find something positive about a book I slammed online (The Catcher in the Rye). I responded by asking her to read the book herself, & tell me if I was wrong. Scroll down three posts and you’ll find the whole thing.

I was just thinking tonight…I wish I had just taken her suggestion instead of fighting it. She gave good advice, and I fired back without giving the thought due process. I get too cynical sometimes, easy for someone like me but bad for a writer. My humor is often based on someone or something not measuring up (or just falling flat on their ass) and I suddenly can write witty one liners to someone else’s misfortune. When Perry mentions that I aim for targets that are “too easy”, I think he means the ones that pretty much write themselves. Exploitation is easy. Someone leaves a gap in their defenses big enough to watch T.V. through and taking the glaringly obvious shot is so goddam cheap you actually get a tax write-off for it, well…There’s no thrills. No challenge. No growth as a writer. I can achieve a good level of FUNNY with that, of course, but my best articles aren’t based off humor, although they contain it. I write my best when I work to overcome a literary obstacle, or get my point across so well that it leaves no room for argument. When you can write something that makes your detractors silent & your fans cheer, well that’s a home run.

As far as professional writing goes I'm still strictly amateur hour, but that's no excuse to stop evolving as a writer. I think we all know I can slice people to ribbons (metaphorically) when they get in my crosshairs. I have a personal motto that applies here: "If you want to know what the right thing to do in any situation is, then find the difficult thing to do. Discover what makes you most uncomfortable, and put that at the head of the list. The easy way out is seldom correct, and the difficult path is usually the one that will allow you to look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow."

I dunno. It interests me to develop my writing skills to their highest and best use. I would like to become the best writer I possibly can.

So, Tiel: I'll re-read "Catcher", and try to see if I can glean something from it. I still say you should read it, for the ability to speak from a knowledgeable frame of reference if nothing else, but nonetheless, "I accept your challenge" (dialog spoken in the best traditions of chop-sockey flicks)

That which does not evolve has achieved stagnation. Let’s see how long I can keep the Old Man from saying “too easy, kid” on this blog.