2005-02-09

Encouraging (but secret) news...

I'd been concerned that my recent efforts have not seemed to be having much success, but this week I received some encouraging news: specifically, one of my short-story-contest entries has been shortlisted. Less specifically, because there's a moratorium on telling anyone else until the day of announcements, I'm not allowed to say anything more about it. Sorry.

Which brings me to musing on what keeps me going at this lark. Is it the thrill of creating something out of nothing, or perhaps the harvesting of wild, dark and uncharted recesses of the imagination? Maybe it's the exercise of literary artifice.

Or is it the fame and the money?

Well it certainly isn't the money. As for fame -- not much of that either. But there's feedback, and the possibility of making some kind of difference in the world. It's comforting to believe, after spending three-quarters of a year writing a 130,000-word novel, that someone, somewhere, might actually read it, and like it, and want to read more. (We all have dreams.)

It's the little victories, like having a story shortlisted, that keep me going.

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