Traditional Benchmarks

I can't remember exactly where in college I had heard this from, but a professor once professed that in literature, you should write a million words before you start to write. The implication is that once you have written those 1,000,000 words, you will have harnessed your style of writing, as well as worked out your own common writing flaws.

I'm trying to justify whether or not I have met this goal, as I am looking to get published this year. Have I written 1,000,000 words in my life. Yes, I know this without a moments pause for doubt. The question is, have I written a million words on the path to better and serious writing. Discount chat room conversation, discount friendly e-mails and texts and light thread posts and computer coding; discount all those words that are not a serious investment in literature.

After all those words are tossed aside, what is left. Letters, stories, reports, informational and recreational articles, thesis papers, serious forum content, formal e-mails and I would believe that all the words written under the teachings of the K-12 + College English program would count, as well as any writing done in a secondary language.

Though I have yet to complete anything for formal publishing, my wide array of half finished texts probably push me over the top of 1,000,000 words. I am by no means pushing this obstacle in the way of any writer other than myself. It is a large goal to contemplate. I say that if you find you have passed this mark and are not submitting serious writing to some sort of a publisher, you should so that the audience of the world can have a look at your sharpened pen.

A Walk & A Talk

One of my proofers on my proofing panel for my stories, the harshest critic, in-fact, was over for a day at my house, and we spoke as I continue reaching the end of my first novel. He finds it painful as an English major just graduating this semester when he looks at the shelves and finds out what quality of writing is actually getting published out there.

I told him about an author I had recently met who had gotten their work published, and without pushing it through an editor, so the text still had errors in it when it hit the shelves. We both came to the agreement that this person must have had a very good letter to the publisher when they submitted their text, as this cover letter is important. I hadn't had the chance to read the text yet, but if the letter you write to the publisher can be that influential as to make or break your publishing chances, I had better do well.

Our conversation leaked further into all the works I would like to finish in the world of literature, as they are numerous in number, and I haven't finished or submitted a single one yet. He began speaking of the lack of originality in literature and how he wouldn't start the writing of a book with characters and a plot, but rather, he'd start with the message the text was supposed to push, and work its way back from there. He'd find a way to express the message through events and characters in the book, specifically side characters so the book would not sound 'preachy'.

He commented that most of the ideas I had were messages that had been over-expressed in literature already, and that he would pick the books up, but probably not buy any of them. This went double for my graphic novel ideas. I am happy to have a friend that is so bold and honest in criticism, as I am a bit of a sadist and his altruistic views of the purpose of literature will only serve to elevate the quality of what I produce. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to alter everything I make to suit his palate, but if I were to make one text out of the many I have sketched out that he would wish to buy, I know I have diversified my audience to include a higher caliber of reader.

My retort to his claim of a message being expressed already, and the general lack of originality in literature, was that in writing, I could take a message and express it how I saw fit. All those who would read the message through my text would then have my antiquities, my mores, and the metaphors I thought expressed the message best now attached to how they view the idea.

Unlike him, I don't start, or rather haven't started any of my stories thus far with the idea of pushing a message through, the message has always come from the work mid-stream. If his agenda is to push ideas through writing, my agenda is to tell a good tale. We agreed to disagree.