Water Works

Grinding can be less the work of a sander or pumice, sometimes; it may be accomplished by the invisible elements - sand and silt, the particulates of ancient shells - wearing year after year, carried by wind or by water.

There's no art, nor even much insight in observing this.  It isn't original.  It isn't news.  It isn't even interesting.


And *that*.  Is what the WORK of writing is - after the writing is done.  This is what querying is.  A year gone - and, for the volume of effort you expend, the water of your work, a few pieces of sand, of shell, minuscule in the depths, nick and chip and shape ... and disappear.  That is the key.  Most of what you do is just so much water over the bridge, just so much hot air blown, just so much memory (so much experience) yielding nothing it's supposedly meant to make happen.

But what is it really supposed to engender ... ?

The thing is, given the metaphor:  It might seem like what you are supposed to wear away is "Publishing" - some vast entity, against which you throw your blood-earned hard work.  It might seem like what you are supposed to wear away is the massive population of agents in the world.  It might seem like the idea is to affect something outside yourself.

But what the water does is *shaping*.

And what it shapes - if you are lucky (and paying attention) - is you.  Losing the excess.  Losing the droll fantasies.  Losing the illusions - for the blessing of education.  Yes, even killing your darlings.  Loss, and loss, and loss, and loss.

That is the job of selling creativity.



I happen to be working my way down to a killer figure, metaphorically.

Pretty soon, the agents will no longer be able to resist.