the wisdom to know the difference

i was reading a novel at lunch yesterday and found i was beginning to cringe. I felt the writer putting words that sounded forced into her character, to affect my reaction and emotion as a reader. so the character was like a puppet on a string and the writer's head was bobbing up behind the character on the stage - and so i was aware the character was just that - an invention.

a writer has to know when to disappear, and when to show up with outstretched hands and heart. there are no rules for this. the instinct for touch and go comes over time with the integrity of practice and the vulnerability to be wrong and make mistakes.

so this boils down to what edison called the 99 percent hard work to the 1 percent genius. give your writing your time and attention. it's messy. it is a love affair worth keeping.