Over A Tea Cup

Posted on January 14, 2003 in Writing Groups

I had to tell someone in the writing group a hard truth last night. “You’re work is technically perfect: the grammar impeccable, the dialogue natural, the overall structure of the plot rigorously adhered to. I can imagine it written by many fine writers, to tell the truth, and that’s my problem with it: I don’t see you in it at all. You employ stock scenes and characters with which I don’t think you have more than a superficial familiarity. I think you need to take risks. Here are two quotes from John Ruskin for you to ponder:

The desire for perfection is a misunderstanding of the aims of art.

Only what is bad is perfect — in its own bad way.”

And then I held my silence and sipped my tea out of a paper cup whose red body and black lettering were perfect.