Thoughts too long for Twitter: Slowly, but surely

My writing is getting better. Slowly, but surely (There, a cliche and double-adverb all in one. If I were editing this, I'd take that out. See! Getting better!). The more I write, the more I read, the better I get. But in drops. Not all at once.

I've been reading some really good writing lately. Horror writing, which I'm starting to believe is the most difficult type of writing. You're not just trying to tell a story-- you're trying to elicit a specific emotion, to make people's skin crawl (and there, see! Another cliche I'd wipe out, were I editing this). Nightmare magazine has some of the best short-story horror anywhere. Gorgeous writing. Every word, carefully chosen. Every metaphor, crisp and new, a perfect image playing in my head, scary as hell.

I can't write that well. Not yet.

And it KILLS me. I've spent a lot of time lately throwing myself off metaphorical cliffs, slamming my own head into metaphorical walls, screaming at myself to STOP WRITING, because you're just NO DAMN GOOD AT IT!

Did I tell you about that thing I read somewhere recently, about the only difference between published writers and unpublished writers is confidence? Not quality of work. Confidence. Hm.

I've also found myself slogging through the slush-pile that is independently published writing. Forget your preconceived notions about authors who publish their own works-- there's a lot of GOOD stuff out there. There's also a lot of crap. Some of it got published. Crap. Published. Just the other day, I downloaded a free book to my Kindle from an indie author of urban fantasy. Sounded good. She had so many books available. So many published, some for free, some for pay. Two pages in, and it's crap. Laughably bad. And it's not the genre and it's not the premise and it's not the topic or even the over-arching plot. It's the damn writing. Adverbs. Cliches. Too much telling and not enough showing.

But, damn. I've got to love this author's confidence.

For the record (a cliche record!), I've been reading some really good stuff, for free, off Amazon, from indie authors. If you are interested in this sort of thing, check out Kindle Scout. They call it "reader powered publishing" and it's a great place for new authors to offer up some really great stories.

Maybe someday that's where I'll go. When the writing's good enough. It's not there yet. But it will be.

Until then.

Enjoy,
LLH