In the last TV post I shared my plan to read more to help me write. Well, it’s working. I finished the second draft of my first short story, which I am extremely excited about! Truth be told, I was intimidated by the thought of writing a book. Mainly because of the novel I recently finished reading. I wondered if I was capable of writing enough words to fill up a book, until I learned about flash fiction and short stories. I decided to aim toward penning anywhere between 500 and 7,500 words. Although my goal was reasonable, I must admit I was worried I wouldn’t be able to meet it. Well, I agonized over it for no reason—I was able to find 7,252 words to tell my story. (Yay, me!)
I’ve started working on the second part of my project, which I am also excited about, which brings me to the second part of my confession. Within my commitment to read more, I included a list of books I assigned to my quest. Unfortunately, I am struggling to read the book I chose and I’m wondering if I should soldier through it or toss it aside.
The book I’m currently half-ass reading is Death on the Lanai by Rachel Ekstrom Courage. I’m having trouble embracing the author’s attempt to mimic the writers of the classic sitcom, The Golden Girls. I’m a huge fan of the show—I watch it almost every day—and I am pretty confident that is why I’m not feeling the book. Although I understand the ability to write in a voice that isn’t one’s own takes skill, I can’t help critiquing phrases and word choices. Admittedly, a few lines made me chuckle, but overall, I find it annoying and that bothers me.
My dilemma was, as a writer who’s working on her first book project for publishing, I wondered if I should be more accepting of another author’s work. But then I read a post—well, the comments—that altered my perception and reinforced an important lesson.
Last Sunday I stumbled upon the article, The Black Women Missing from Our Pews by Sarita Lyons, which I found intriguing and relatable, and quite frankly, inspired me to finished a post I started several years ago. However, based on some of the comments I read, there were quite a few readers who do not agree with me, which made me pause. I read comments that suggested changing the title and some that voiced disagreement with the author’s vision altogether. When I read them I thought, “write your own article, then.” That thought reminded me that being a creative is unique to that individual and it may not be embraced by the masses or anyone at all, and that is fine. So, it is okay to not like Ms. Ekstrom Courage’s book—thus far—but I still respect her as an author and her writing skills, which reminds me of an excerpt from a Medium article I saw.
The article is entitled, “I Finally Understand Why Some Writers Never Succeed Online,” by Kamal Deen. I was interested in reading it because I’ve struggled with being “unseen” on social media and I was curious about his point of view. Granted, I didn’t read the piece in its entirety; however, what I read resonated with me, but not in the way I think the writer intended.
In a nutshell, the author spent time reviewing the profiles of the “new writers” who “complain[ed] that nobody was reading their work.” He concluded that people aren’t reading their stuff because “their articles were about their random thoughts, their moods, their day, or their opinions on things nobody asked about. Nothing in the piece gave a stranger a reason to stay past the first paragraph.”
Albeit, his account may be true, and I accept the probability that I fall in the category he described; however, I’d rather write what pours out of my soul than what I think readers want. If this writing thing is truly my calling—which, I acknowledge it is—my people will find me.
So, as for my dilemma, I may not be one of Ms. Ekstrom Courage’s people, but I congratulate her on finding those who are, and I encourage her to keep treading her path—which is what I am going to do, too.
