I happened to stumble across my Collected Web Stories blogbook as a post at another blogsite. I thanked the site owner for the “link”, but it got me thinking about the whole issue of having one’s creative work out in the wild.
I’m torn here a bit. A part of me says – the web is for sharing.
Some people say that you should only ever put your best stuff out there. But what is best? Ten years ago, I had a lot of “best” stuff that today wouldn’t make that tag. But it was “best” then and I was proud of it, and that work contributed to where I’m going now in my writing. And I guess it shows that writing is a long learning process that never ends – and that’s the beauty and fun and frustration of it.
And what if someone pinches my work? People worry about that. I think I’d be flattered, but I might be a bit cranky about the lack of recognition. But then, hey, if it’s good enough to pinch …
Then there’s the issue of pay for one’s work. Literary magazines pay little if at all, so there it’s the exposure that counts. And there’s also the byline.
I’ve got a couple of novels I’m working on, but that’s a different deal. They are still very much works in progress. When they are done, I intend to go the traditional route of agent, publisher, etc. But who knows? It’s early days yet.
I think what it boils down to is that I write to be read. If my work touches someone, and I know that some of it has, then that’s reason enough to get it out in the wild. Maybe it will touch someone else.
Now that I’ve cleared all that up in my mind, I’d better get back to my writing.
