I got home from a Fourth of July crab feast around 11:00 tonight, sat down at my computer, and wrote the eleven letters that have been requested by the readership. Lindsay, Clare, Abby, Cathy, Brandy, Veronica, Don, Holly, Jessica, Alex (and Megan), and Brandi can expect a letter in their mailbox by the end of next week. As for Aubrey, I have not started writing your masters thesis. It’s 2:00am, and I’m feeling unequal to the challenge of unpacking the subtle mysteries of Stoppard’s prose at the moment. But that’s what tomorrow is for.
Thanks to those of you who participated in this experiment. It was great fun writing to you all. I’d like to be the type of person who writes a letter every day, but I know how daunting a challenge it would be. Just past the midpoint of the year, I have succeeded in my New Year’s goal to write at least 1,000 words a day, though what I come up with is a mixed bag. Sometimes nonsense, sometimes solid prose, the product of my daily writing, is, at least, writing. Raw production aimed at nothing more than keeping my fingers in shape and my mind involved. Even a bad run is good for the legs, the heart, the soul.
That’s what I tell myself, at least. Good night, everyone. Here’s hoping you got to see some fireworks.
Here’s a photo of the family, an outtake from the recent Baltimore Magazine shoot.
Ray Bradbury said that, if you wanted to be a good writer, you should write a story every day, because nobody could write 365 bad stories.
Having been the fiction editor for a small-press literary magazine, I can tell you he was wrong. I’m glad to hear your writing is going considerably better!
Thank you, my friend.