Oddly enough what I think distinguishes a “real writer” from “someone who writes” is the ability and willingness to rewrite.
It's from Gina Barreca, who goes on to say this:
When you hand someone something you love, something you’ve poured your heart into and the first thing they say is, “This is a good start,” your instinct might be to impale yourself on the nearest sword — after all you’ve just given somebody the best thing you’ve ever done, and they’ve told you that you might have made a good beginning — implying that you might have a long way to go.
The amateur will recoil and defend; the professional will take a deep breath and say, “What do you think I could do differently?”
Those are really hard words to say. ...
really nice...
ReplyDeletegood stuff. This sits right next to something one of my committee members once said -- "One of the most important qualities of a PhD student is resilience --- as long as you can bounce back, you are good."
ReplyDeleteOnly,
ReplyDeleteWhen do you know,
To stop considering opinions,
For writing isn't everyones dominion.
It is the writers.
But also,
How do I define,
Myself a writer,
When all I really do,
Is play on my glorified typewriter :)
cheers