Slaps to the face - kicks to the groin

Been reading a bit at breakfast everyday.

Been reading Ernest Hemmingway - On Writing.

Basically, its a collection of all the little tidbits he dropped on his process - in his stories, in his interviews and in his letters. Great stuff - and it beats the hell out of actually writing.

But for those of you looking for encouragement today - here's a bit from the book:

Ernest has a little conversation with a young writer. Ernest writes as "Your Correspondant" or Y.C. and addresses the you writer as "Mice."

He has just given "Mice" a list of books to read if he ever wants to fancy himself a writer.

A very exhaustive list.

A two page list. Single spaced. And he hasn't stop listing titles when Mice interrupts him-

Mice: I can't write them down that fast. How many more are there?

Y.C.: I'll give you the rest another day. There are three times that many.

Mice: Should a writer have read all of those?

YC: All those and plenty more. Otherwise, he doesn't know what he has to beat.

Mice: What do you mean "has to beat?"

YC: Listen. There is no use writing anything that has been written before unless you can beat it. What a writer in our time has to do is write what hasn't been written before or beat dead men at what they have done. The only way he can tell how he is going is to compete with dead men...

Mice: But reading all the good writers might discourage you...

YC: Then you ought to be discouraged.

How's that for a pat on the back???

Good writing friends... :)