This month, I have no special bone to pick with anyone, nor do I have some particular cause to promote. What I would like to talk about is an extension of what Marilyn says in the opening paragraph of this page.
While some of us might have written professionaly and others have taken courses in writing at one level or another, most are much like me. We write to the best of our ability and we sit with a dictionary at hand for even the simplest of words. We feel frustrated that we can't do a better job of expressing ourselves and we often spend hours typing, correcting and correcting yet again in an effort to have a story posted that we can take some pride in.
Obviously, we receive no payment for these little 'stories' of ours, but every once in a while, we receive something much better that any monetary reward. We get an E-mail from someone telling us that they enjoyed reading something we labored over and feel some pride in and it truly makes our day. "That made me laugh" or "Your story made me remember a time like that in MY life" is.........to us, like rain falling on a dry desert.
You needn't be effusive with praise, most of us know we don't deserve that. Just "I liked this one" or "Good job" is enough to make all the hours we put into typing up our musings, recollections and short stories worthwhile.
I'm not asking this for myself because I'm a pretty thick skinned old goat and am very much aware of my shortcomings as a writer. I'm asking in behalf of those writers I see here who have taken little baby steps in the beginning and who have improved by leaps and bounds as they continue to explore this new hobby of theirs. Please take a moment to E-mail those who's 'story' you enjoy in this month's postings.
I wish all who read this a wonderful and fun filled Halloween.
Loyal
