December 10th, 2010 / 1:08 pm
Snippets
Snippets
Matthew Simmons—
“…[Y]ou’ll never become the writer you want to become. You’ll never be satisfied, never really know if you are any good. You’ll never be certain.”—from a 1998 letter by Dean Young to his nephew, the writer Seth Pollins. The entire thing is here, and it’s well worth reading. (Worth relinking to this open letter from Tony Hoagland about Dean’s current medical problems, I think.)
I like the letter too!
I am continuously confused by the idea that writing never feels good, though. I like it pretty well! Most of the time I don’t have any feelings about it in particular (I feel the work, but not about the work) and then sometimes it does feel pretty good.
wow. thanks.
that is truly a hell of a letter
that’s a generous letter, and truthful in that the act of writing never feels good, but sometimes it doesn’t suck as much
I like the letter too!
I am continuously confused by the idea that writing never feels good, though. I like it pretty well! Most of the time I don’t have any feelings about it in particular (I feel the work, but not about the work) and then sometimes it does feel pretty good.
Thanks for posting, Matt.
Of course, Seth. Thanks so much for posting it.
I’ve always said that, since you’ll always fall short in whatever you do, in order to reach the Moon you need to aim for Mars. If you settle for the Moon you’ll end up landing on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Aiming ‘too high’ is necessary, man. And it’s a given you should never be satisfied. If you’re satisfied with you’re work then there’s no more reason to go forward, and not much reason to publish another book.
I might’ve said it before, but writing, to me, is usually painful. I used to love it, now most of the time I hate it. I used to love writing. Now I only like it once in a while, then it becomes painful again. Much of the reason why I don’t write much any longer. I’m still thrilled when words end up doing amazing things, but the act itself is painful. When I start, I usually can’t wait until it’s over. I wish I could get over this, somehow.
…Sigh… .
The writing is supposed to be the best part, but for me it’s the product I prefer… when the pain is over and I have something decent to show for it.
[…] “…[Y]ou’ll never become the writer you want to become. You’ll never be satisfied, never really know if you are any good. You’ll never be certain.”?from a 1998 letter by Dean Young to his nephew, the writer Seth Pollins. The entire … Continue reading → […]