Vulnerability

I still find writing extremely scary.



The blog has always been my safe haven. I always feel pretty free to write stuff here of varying quality, without thinking too much about it.



But still; so much of what I write is met with stone silence, and it's SCARY! Late on Monday night I posted a short story called "London Falling". Days went by, there were no comments, no emails, no friends saying 'hey I really liked it'. Absolutely nothing.



The immediate inclination is to delete the story, because it must be awful. But I always try to leave everything standing. I like to show all sides of creativity, the good stuff and the bad. So the bad stories stay, as much pain as they cause me.

Today, nearly three days later, there's a comment on the story. PAUL S has thrown it a lifeline.



"I'm bemused by the lack of response to writing of this quality. This piece is beautiful, moving and macabre; and I for one want to thank you for sharing it."



Amazing how a tiny comment by someone, anyone, can make all the difference to your state of mind and how you feel about yourself as an artist. You always kid yourself into thinking you can just write anytime you want without caring about people's feedback, but you need it.

GREAT material gets comments, and it gets shared. And if it's really great, it goes viral. Everything else just kind of sinks into the internet. Another page of semi-interesting nonsense that will capture a few, but hardly anybody.

Luckily, occasionally, a piece resonates; as this one did with Paul S. You find yourself with a little bit more fuel - someone likes what you do, and you know you'll write again.