(no subject)

[essayel]

I finished a story last night and I'm at the stage where I have the feeling it's utter pants and completely self indulgent. However, from my observations of proper writers, I understand that this is a perfectly normal reaction. At least this time I actually finished it before giving up, so that shows some progress. I'll winnow through it to try and reduce the number of 'and's to a manageable proportion, sort out the POV problems I'm told I have that I can't see [I guess that's because I know what I mean] and pester my poor beta with it next week. Snippet here for them as wants it.

I've had a big consignment of pirate related shop stock today. Fancy dress costumes [for kids sadly], very expensive but rather good pirate ships robust enough to be real toys, and sundry little bits and pieces to gladden the inner sproglet. I feel so SORRY for people who have grown up so much that they can't see the point of simple and silly pleasures. I had a phone call from one last week - a woman - who was disgusted that we were wasting gallery space on an exhibition for children. Didn't we realise how irritating it was for adults to a] have to breathe the same air as breeders and their spawn [she didn't say that but might as well have] and b] be deprived of a sensible, properly grown up exhibition that she could come and nod wisely at? We'll put n something for her and her ilk next summer, but I think it's brilliant to see and hear people in the museum actually laughing for once.

Comments

[ceitfianna]

Wow, that woman is sad. I want to work in the youth section of the library, because I haven't grown up and don't want to.

I want an excuse to keep reading kids' books and help kids figure out what they like and who they are.

Also to be able to tell them they can take as many books as they can carry.

I'd love to be able to go to this exhibit you're organizing, it sounds like so much fun.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Kid's books are good. They have to be. An adult might forgive you for being a bit boring in spots if the overall plot is good, but a kid never will.

[yakalskovich]

When do we get to see a picture post of that exhibition? I talked about it so much on IM with you, I'd really love to see how it turned out!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I had new stock today!! Pirate glove puppets. I'm going to have to buy myself one as a souvenir

[yakalskovich]

You should post pictures of the shop, too. I'd love to see those.

[open-the-blinds.livejournal.com]

"...I have the feeling it's utter pants and completely self indulgent."

bitchy_brat and I were just discussing this very fact the other day, wondering aloud, as it were, if either of us were the only one who wrote something - enjoyed it during the process - then completely 180'd and hated it/panicked over it/wondered what we were thinking. Turns out we weren't. We learned we both tend take part in those post-creative flights of paranoia.

So yes, I will hardly thumbs up on that and agree that is a natural reaction. Hopefully.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I think you have to tread somewhere along the line between despair and the kind of self confidence that leads to submitting a piece with silly mistakes. I'd sooner err on the side of caution, and just as well looking at how many times I've used the word 'and'. I'm trying to whittle them down to less than ludicrous numbers.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Gah at annoying woman. I now have the Young Persons booked in to have adventures at the little local museum next month, and do a badge at the bigger fairly local museum next term. Fun *and* leaning!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

They remember it better if they have fun. I had a woman in the museum with her baby a while back who claimed that she remembered me showing her class how to do a Druidical sacrifice when she was ten. It didn't seem to have done her any harm :D

[yakalskovich]

Did they try? Did they succeed?

**grins**

A picture exists (on paper) of me sacrificing a classmate on some altar in Epidauros. I didn't kill him completely dead, but it did look dramatic...

[wulfila.livejournal.com]

That caller sounds terribly annoying, and growing up is overrated anyway.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

growing up is overrated anyway.

I couldn't agree more!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's a perfectly normal reaction, as is the delighted "oh, you know what, this is actually pretty good!" that you will probably get when you read it again in a week or so.

As CS Lewis says "when I became a man, I put away childish things - including the desire to be terribly grown up." He also says that as long as you retain the love for the things you liked in your childhood and add new, grown up pleasures, you have growth. (Because you have more sources of pleasure.) If you have to lose your childhood pleasures in order to replace them with grown-up ones, you don't have growth, you only have change.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

In many ways C S Lewis was a very sensible man.

I love my stories throughout the planning and 3 forths of the writing stage but then dive head first into the slough of critical despond. Normally I give up at that point, but in this case thinking about the UK Meet anthologies made me persevere. I only hope you haven't created a monster :D

[britalone.livejournal.com]

I tried to access your snippet, but access was denied!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

:D If you'd like to read the snippets I'll friend you with that journal. I've got it friends locked because I might try and get the story published.

[britalone.livejournal.com]

I'd love to read your snippet, thanks :o)