For Young Writers Like Penelope

Writing is such a wonderful thing, and I applaud you doing any sort of writing—as long as you reflect upon it a bit afterwards. Revision and editing are fantastic tools that are always at your disposal, to not only make sure that you work is absolutely free of error, but also so you can get just the right nuance and subtle intentionality into your work in just the shades you would wish. How will you know a piece needs more work? You’ll probably think “No, that’s not quite it.” And while it is always helpful to get feedback, you have to be brave enough to stand alone and not sign off and release anything—not one sentence—until it’s just the way you would like it to be. Present yourself and your ideas in precisely the way you would wish—not a half-way version, not “as good as it gets for now,” not for the fawning or favor of a reader. You are the writer, and you are in control. In a world where we don’t often get absolute authority over much beyond choosing meals and picking out a sweater, in the realm of writing you are the absolute and final boss, and should behave as such. Command your language and control your reader—that’s our job. Most readers are the average intelligent reader, who after all would not be reading if they were illiterate buffoons of small understanding and imperfect perception—you know who I mean. Look through the screen, or glance up beyond your journal, and see a living and breathing person who will follow your words and attempt to understand what you are saying—for a little while, anyway. Lead them by the hand and bring them along, tell them things, show them things, make your intentions known—even if not until the very last line. Readers like to be fooled if you’re very good at it. Every person who sits down to read a story would like to have it be mind-blowing and life-changing—as the best stories are. Which brings us to the point of making sure to read often and widely, and trying to enjoy it while also analyzing the work: “What is this writer doing? How are they doing it?” Hemingway and Kafka are very different writers—but they both desired an audience and found one through their hard work—and they were both very well read. Who are the masters of the short story? Find them and read them. Do O. Henry and Shirley Jackson stand up over the decades? Were they really all that? Should F. Scott Fitzgerald and Patricia Highsmith be part of your diet? Yes they should. Find out where you might fit in literary history—or make your own place. The world is yours to command, on the page. And you are writing all the time, in your head, as you live your life. It’s a simply transcendent way to use your mind and your time.