From Another Writer...

Who are you afraid of exposing yourself to when you write? Well, for starters, me. Being drawn to the less than joyful parts of life, there is always the danger some line could be crossed that should not be crossed. That is ICK; that is me.
Then, there is the cosposite reader who is mostly my father. He sees my writing as superficial; adolescent; lacking in pristine grammar; not typed well enouogh; too emotional; bringing up subjects better left buried; writing only for shock value and more, more, more. As it happens, I am a better writer than my father. But early lessons live deep inside. I cannot imagine being so cruel to someone creating anything- a dinner, a poem. Perhaps I will write about him one day. The Nazi who takes communion and takes me to the library. Hard ambiguity and conflict life poses for us.
He sees me as a student hack while he publishes along in his modest magazines, but still, the articles are published and the checks come in.
I think in some piece of writing this reader is going to have to bite the dust. If I were not still afraid, I would have simply said, "I willl have to kill him." (Ahhhhh poo. Sentences transposed themselves. well, I'm too tired to figure out how to change.


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