Unpublished

I haven't posted for a while.  That's life.

But, I haven't been idle.  Writing is part of who I am.  Like my red hair.  It may not be natural but it is right.

Over the summer, I worked through some story issues and edited some of my own work.  And I've read like crazy.  One hundred finished books in 2012 as of this blog.  

I also worked through an unpublished work by a fellow aspiring writer.  Sometimes, I've worked on a project and thought,

"This is a mess of epic proportions."
"This was interesting and has potential but is really far from the mark."
"This is decent and with a little more work, could be viable."
"This is well done and is publishable.  I want to see this on bookshelves."    

I am not sure where my own works fall, maybe all over the place as I have so many novels and short stories.  Some of them are epic messes and some are hopefully decent and readable.  Who knows.  But, what I do know is that this last project I worked through for the fellow writer fell in the last category.  Weeks later, I am still thinking about the characters and plot twists.  That is a good sign.  If she ever publishes I will be the first to congratulate her.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to work for a publishing company (or agency), reading through unproven works to see how viable they are.  I think it would be hard to read so many epic messes.  Exhausting, really.  Especially as I am someone who rarely gives up on a book, even when there is excellent evidence that abandonment would be the best course.  But, think of all the gems that are out there, waiting to be nurtured into viability.  I am an eternally hopeful person.  Maybe someday, this might be part of my life story.  In the meantime, I like working through the odd project that comes my way.  Every writer needs readers.  I can do that.

And in the meantime, I can work on my own creations.  Creating brings tremendous light to my life.  Maybe someday, I can create something worth the paper it is printed on.  Until then, creation for creation's sake will suffice.