Vision: A Resource f

 Lazette Gifford
Publisher & Editor
zette@cableone.net

 

From the Editor: 

Late Night Rambles of a Writer

By Lazette Gifford
© 2005,
Lazette Gifford


As an editor (Vision), publisher (Dragon Tooth Fantasy Ebooks), Site Administrator (Forward Motion) and... yeah... writer, I spend a good amount of each day connecting with writers in one way or another.  I spend some time on both sides of the publishing world, and it's an interesting experience to go from discussing rewrites with someone I'm going to publish to discussing edits with someone who is going to publish me.

I love dealing with writers.  They're usually open to suggestions, and they're quick to visualize 'what if' ideas, and they aren't afraid of intelligence.  Overall, they're much easier to work with than many other groups.  Still....

I'm sure everyone reading this knows that writers are strange creatures, right?  We can usually tell you more about a make-believe character in a book we haven't even written yet than we can about the person who lives next door.  We carry paper or PDAs to the dinner table and to bed so that we can jot down a few more notes, and we stare in shocked dismay when someone says they haven't even written a letter in the last ten years.

(And you don't want to know the reaction if they say they haven't read anything in that long!)

There are few writers who are really in sync with the world around them the way others seem to be.  It's as though we're distracted by something the others don't even know exist, but that we can hear and see.

It's a gift and it's fun.  Don't let anyone ruin that fun for you, either.

But more so, don't ruin it for yourself.  You don't have to conform to anyone else's idea of a perfect writer.  You don't have to write stories you don't love.

And you don't have to make excuses for being a writer.  You have stories to tell; don't let others take them away from you, and don't throw them away yourself.

So go have fun writing about that guy living in your head and don't worry about the neighbors.  Your characters are probably more interesting anyway.