vickeymalonekennedy.com Blog

Writers are funny folk. Our work is solitary. Even when we surround ourselves with other authors, we do most of our work alone in some dark dismal corner of our own little universe.

Sounds a bit counterproductive because we need light to write. Well some of us do. I type with my eyes closed most of the time. Could explain my lousy spelling? No. I just can’t spell worth shit.

Like most artists, writers’ tend to be their own worst critics. We are never convinced our work is any good, or at least not good enough. Sometimes it isn’t. We’ve all written crap during our exploration of the craft. But still, occasionally, we create something we aren’t completely ashamed to have read aloud in public.

Like most artists, writers’ need validation. That validation can come in many forms. The day your family stops nagging you about wasting so much time on the computer with your little hobby, and starts nagging you to get back to work on your writing, is a moment of triumphant validation. Winning contests, selling something you’ve written, wowing your critique group with an awesome short story, are all moments of validation.

Still we doubt ourselves, our ability, our talent, our value.

Writing is not a nine to five job. We don’t punch a clock, or pick up a weekly paycheck. We get paid sporadically and usually in small amounts. I once received a check for $3 for a short story. Hey it was three dollars I didn’t have before the mail ran that day. And it was validation that my work had not gone unnoticed, unappreciated, or unpaid.

But every now and again I get a surprise validation. A check for a contest I had forgotten I had entered. An honorable mention from an extremely prestigious contest. A sale of a story I didn’t particularly care for myself but someone convinced me to submit it anyway. An “Oh my God!” from my daughter when she has just finished proofreading a new story.

Sometimes that jaw dropping, eye widening, expression of complete awe on the face of a reader is the most rewarding validation of all. It always surprises me when someone has that reaction to something I’ve written. It always makes me step back, look at myself in the mirror, and say to myself, “maybe I can write.” Of course an hour later I’m deleting an entire book I think sucks the big one.

But once in a great while, when someone gets that look of awe on their face, when my family nags me to get back to work, when I open an envelope in the mail and there is a check inside, when I get an email telling me I’ve just won another contest, I feel validated. I feel like it’s all worth it. I feel good about myself. I feel like I’m a real writer.

I feel that way today because I just won another first place at Whim’s Place for a flash fiction piece entitled, “In a Flash.” Unfortunately, Whim’s isn’t going to publish it on their web site this time. Their newsletter implied they may be going under. Which sucks!

Whim’s Place was a great paying market providing excellent exposure for their authors. I hate to see them fold. I encourage everyone to pay them a visit at www.whimsplace.com and encourage them to continue supporting and validating writers like me.