31 May, 2012

Readers of the Future Now

Scott Bradfield, a friend and mentor, once said to me that he hates "every book ever written on how to write."

At the time I found this disturbing, but ever since I acquired a sense for a story's overall form, I've begun to see what Scott meant. Hate is a strong word, and I find many of Robert Silverberg's and Thomas H. Uzzell's essays and books fascinating, but I do find myself arguing with what I read far more.

It really is something one, ultimately at least, must figure out for oneself. I require a human approach.  In my stories, I want to use subtlety and direct narrative to make my readers want to imagine the setting, the character's humanity and the action's vividness.  Insinuation for imagination, I like to say.

How well I accomplish this isn't for me to decide. It's for the readers. All any artist can do is offer his or her conception of the truth, and all I can promise whilst writing is my mind and heart on the humanity of a thing. We are, after all, writing for the readers.

From now on, I'll post where and when my stories publish.  I can't acquire readers without writing.  And I can't write without thinking of you.

Thanks for reading!

Wm. Luke Everest