Derek, my MFA pal, surprised me the other day. I’m not that easy to surprise. Which is a surprise in itself.
“We’re all just like singers,” he said.
How so, my truth-seeking friend?
“Well, let’s see.” Derek’s eyes widened. He is not at all aggressive. He likes to make a bland contribution to any conversation, and doesn’t expect challenges. Now both of us were surprised. “Let’s see,” he said. “I mean, it’s easy to sing. Everyone can do it, or tries to. And it’s easy to write.”
“Is writing easy?”
It was time for Derek to take a stand, and he did. “Yes.”
Bravo. But if we’re like singers, are there other similarities, beyond ease?
“A lot of people think they are pretty good. But they aren’t good at all.”
Derek was sticking his neck out. In class, he is told everyone is talented. Everyone is wonderful. It’s all unicorns and balloons and smiley faces. It’s not just MFA candidates. The whole industry is like that, as though ordered along the lines of Heaven itself. Publishers are wonderful. Contests are wonderful. Agents are wonderful, teachers are wonderful, editors, booksellers, proofreaders, seminars, wonderful wonderful. Makes you a little suspicious…
“It’s like that old TV show,” he continued. “Remember American Idol? There were all those people, stadiums filled with them, who thought they could sing. But they couldn’t. They had no ability whatsoever.”
I remembered American Idol. “It was fascinating,” I said.
“And a little sad.”
“You don’t think readings are like that, do you?”
I’ll say one thing about Derek. If he trusts you, he’ll speak his mind. “I don’t know, But if they are, I have one thing to say.”
“What’s that?”
“Get the hook.”
Richard Donnelly lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Classic flyover land. Which makes us feel just a little… superior. He publishes a weekly column of essays on the writing life at richarddonnelly.substack.com