And Now for Something Completely Self-Aggrandizing

I've added a link to The Writer's Blog. This is a project started by Charlie, his wife and Amy.

First of all, a word about Charlie. I don't know how this Glasgowian (Glasgowite?) found my blog but I'm sure glad he did. Through him I've met a whole new slew of bloggy friends. He claims that one of his chief characteristics is that he attracts "nutters". I don't think he's referring to people in Blogtopia, they all seem pretty groovy to me. But he does have a decided ability to create community. I don't know if you'd call it a coven or a collective or if he's just the Pied Piper and we're all little Hamelin children, following his music into some weird valley of writers but whatever it is, it's pretty cool.

Now for the blog itself. It's a sort of writing experiment wherein individuals are invited to contribute a few paragraphs to an on-going story. The story itself is not in any way determined. Each contribution gives rise to the next one and it's just sort of emerging into a literary thing. So far, so good.

Charlie emailed me earlier this week, inviting me to participate. I hestitate because, as I have stated often and emphatically, I don't do fiction. Some people have a gift for writing in many and various genre and I bow down before them. I'm best with this expository, essay-like stuff. It's what I'm comfortable with and trust me, I'm doing the world a favor by sticking to it. I have a Word folder titled "Really Bad Fiction" if you don't believe me. But one must never get too comfortable, must one? So when he blew his pipe I came along.

The process was torture. I spent hours working on 3 paragraphs. Then I spent yesterday morning completely rewriting 1 of them before sending it off. I've never been so relieved to finish something in my life. And ok, it doesn't actually suck. Within the context of the fine work of the other writers it's just dandy. It was a good exercise and I was glad I pushed myself to be a little discombobulated, if for no other reason than it made me appreciate even more how much fun this other sort of writing is for me.

Contributors get the reward of recommending someone else to participate. (They are hoping to have something like 50 writers involved before it's over). I suggested JP because a) I owe him so much for his bloggy support, technical and otherwise, b) I think he's brilliant and 3) I knew that he had written fiction. Now I also know that he's a bastard because I recommended him yesterday, his post is already up and I bet he wrote it while he was brushing his teeth.

Anyway, go check it out.