Never Discuss Your Current Project*
Hemingway advised writers to try for one true sentence at a time. His advice is usually helpful. So I'm going out on a limb here to share one of my sentences with you. Paying forward the Old Man's generosity.
Before he reached manhood, before his face grew hair and his voice broke, the boy believed that books were transported to earth by angels, usually at night.
This is exactly what I want to say. It is true. No artifice. No subtext. It is factual.
* Cardinal rule for many creative writers. It is for me and has been inviolable for many years. Why break that rule now?
Maybe I am feeling sufficiently confident about my character's story that I can be a little less guarded than I am accustomed to being. Maybe I have fooled myself into believing that you will understand what a big deal this is and be interested in a glimpse into my novel-in-progress. Maybe you will want to read more. Or maybe it is just a moment of 2:00 A.M. clarity. Here's to you wherever you are, Ernest.