pen pretension.

A friend recently made the comment to me that writing about writing causes them to feel like a pompous ass. For the obvious reason that this entire blog is me (or the unsuspecting guest writers) writing about writing, this gave me a moment's pause. It was then I realized I agreed with her. It does make me feel like a pompous ass and maybe it damn well should. Yet I am fully aware I have no more than the next person to feel self-important about and have included a static disclaimer which I will repeat here: this is absolute rubbish, so take it with a shot of whiskey or not at all.


It requires a certain amount of ego to write. You must first dare to consider the possibility that the asylum in your head is worthy of being mapped, that the voices you hear possess enough resonance to find echoes in ink. And if you dare to expect anyone else to actually read what you write, then your ego must be inflated enough to be capable of containing the necessary amount of courage. 

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  - Sylvia Plath.

I am acquainted with several talented writers who fear, despite their passion for the pen, that their lack of formal education in fiction writing causes them to fall woefully behind the crowd. This is not always true. It harks back to the argument of formal education versus self-education. Yes, there are critics who seem to exist for the sole purpose of denouncing anything not written with massive homage to craft intricacies.


Well, fuck 'em. If it's good, if it reverberates, if it speaks to me in a language I didn't even know my bones could understand, then who gives a damn?


Do you?


If so, this is not for you. There is nothing to see here. Move along, move along and take your pen pretensions with you.