Nothing will come of nothing:
Yesterday I went to a lecture series given by the Bay Area Professional Writers Group. It was a pleasant time filled with agreeable professional’s giving advice to us-all. It seemed that the advice anyone gave was quietly contradicted by another, but in one thing they were unanimous. Don’t give up.
For me a memorable speaker was Fred Wright (www.fredwright.net). He teaches a course near here. He encouraged us to submit material wherever we thought it might find a home. Then he said, more or less, “The worst answer you can possibly get is no answer at all.” This I have long understood. There is no height of rudeness nor ridicule that can be as destructive as no answer in that context.
Of course, as they say, you spend the first two years learning to walk and talk and the rest of your life learning to sit down and shut up. But when someone has directly offered you a suggestion or a question intimate to your own field of interest you are certainly within your rights to make no response, but it doesn’t help anybody.
He then balanced that sentiment with the converse that if somebody has actually responded, answer immediately. I often do not respond to people who are looking to make a living off me, but when I have opened the conversation I truly try never to let the ball drop. Usually that response on my part draws no further action. The guy was just clearing his mailbox. Fair enough. At least he answered.
So from now on I suppose I shall not make a great change in what I am doing on this site, although the lack of feedback seems a little more painful than it did before it was so spelled out. As far as my fiction writing, of course you can look up The Newton Enigma here on the site. You may not like it, but I think you might concede that my style is unique. I’ll probably continue writing just for fun and just show it to friends and family.
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