A Few Things About Writing, Talent, and Hard Work

When I saw this Vocal writing challenge I knew what I must write

A poem about something really black and white

I knew I had to write a meta-poem, a poetic metaphor

A poem about writing, about what I adore

But what about writing could I write that had not already been said

And what about the prompt, uncommon, rare, unread

Then something struck me I knew I could not ignore

A truth so clearly evident, it shook me to the core

What is the rarest thing? I shouted down the hall.

The answer came in a flash, like written on a wall.

A writer with talent is the most uncommon of them all

Talent and Hard Work

Four Laws

1. No matter how hard you work, there is always someone with more talent, working nowhere near as hard for the same outcome.

2. No matter how talented you are at something, there is always someone more talented.

3. No matter how hard you work at something, there is always someone working harder.

4. There will always be more people more talented/working harder then you at something then people less talented/not working as hard as you at something. Fortunately there is much more to life/success then talent and hard work. Cultivate those other things and 1–3 will matter less and less

What is Good Writing?

Is is possible to know what 'good writing' is? Some argue that it is not possible but that is not exactly precisely true. We don't know what 'good' is but we know what writing is. You could say we are at least halfway acquainted with good writing since we can at least recognize writing vs. any other form of communication. The issue is the definition of good which has been debated since just shortly after the dawn of consciousness in man. Great, and not so great, philosophers from antiquity to today have opined on the question of what is good or the good. Ironically enough they have done so most often in the form of writing. In my opinion not very much of the writing about 'good' is any good. It is not good writing. Good writing about what is good is hard to find. How could I say that if I did not know what good writing is, at least for myself. Good writing for me is what I say is good writing and bad writing is what I say is bad writing. What I think is good, many others might view as bad, but what I view as bad no others would view as good, unless they are bad at differentiating between what is good and what is bad. If they are bad at that, they are likely bad at many things, including writing. Probably, they are the type of people that would write a story featuring the endangered bird, the Macaw. Or, even worse, the type of people that would run a website that sponsors a contest which awards a prize for a story featuring the Macaw. You know, the kind of people that would think a word count minimum for stories on a web based publishing platform in 2021 is a good idea. Idiots, I guess most people would call them. Of course, I would not go that far. Misguided, irrational, insane perhaps, but not idiots. In any event, what was I talking about again? Oh yes, good writing. Hmmmm. See above for an example of the opposite of that and they're you go. You are welcome.

CRAP. Only 588 words still. That seemed like a good second ending, the you're welcome bit. Kind of funny, but now I have to ramble on for another 22 words or so. Need to remember to type out those numerals if I am going to quickly pad my word count. Rule number one of word count padding, always type out numerals, always, each and every time. And, don't forget the power of repetition. Repetition, nothing beats it. Nope, so powerful, so very, very, very, powerful.