The Disclaimer

"A man must write a cart-load of trash, before he can produce a handful of excellence."

That quote is one of many on my old English 100 professor's office door. It was written by a Victorian era writer named Thomas Carlyle, in a letter to a woman he calls "his friend", and who would later become his wife. Most of the letter involves Carlyle writing about how great it would be if the two could collaborate on a novel. This isn't a Victorian pick-up line either. He actually wrote the first chapter and sent it along with his letter, and that is where the above quote comes in. Obviously he was less than satisfied with his own efforts, but he wasn't discouraged.

He also urged his "friend" to forget about her own literary weakness, and in an attempt to encourage her wrote,

"I too will write in my own poor vein, neither fast, nor well, but steadfastly and stubbornly, [and] in time we will both improve."

These two quotes sum up this blog. Someday I would like to produce a "handful of excellence". This is my attempt at getting there. Here I will do as Carlyle did: write neither fast, nor well, but steadfastly and stubbornly. Throughout my life I've written a fair amount of stories, poems and songs. Most of them get deleted or thrown in the trash without anyone else reading them. It's not that I think they're bad, they're just not as good as I want them to be. However, I've come to the conclusion that writing "trash" is a necessary part of the writing process. To quote Carlyle, for the last time, "this story might have been mended... ...but it was not worth the labour: I gave it as I heard it. It is a sooterkin [monstrosity] and must remain so."

I'm not as cynical about my own writing as Carlyle was about his. I consider very little of what I've written to fall under the category of "monstrosity", but the general point holds true. Many great writers started out as "average" writers. That's how I view my own contributions: average. Someday I hope they will be extraordinary, and this blog is the start of the slow but steady process of getting there. As a result, my writing will likely be all over the place. There will be no theme or topic or style, although I likely won't do any creative writing. I, and two other friends, have a separate blog for that (here). I hope you enjoy it, but regardless of how you feel, please give me some feedback. I only ask for you to be polite, and I apologize for any inadvertent "monstrosities".