The Absolute of Writing

The Storyteller 

by Bert Carson

Almost fifteen years ago, I decided to get serious about writing, something I had played at since the sixth grade when I wrote my first short story.  I went down the submission, rejection, agent, road for a while and then discovered amazon.com and self-publishing.  

A lot of what I've learned about writing is seasonal.  By that, I mean, it changes as time passes.  However, there is an absolute for writers that must be understood and mastered if one is to succeed.  The unchangeable eternal rule is, you must entertain your readers.   

Today a woman told me she had just finished my most recent book, Maddog and Miss Kitty.  I asked, "What did you think of it?"  I figured she would say the usual: "It was good," or "It was great," or "I loved it." 

However, she didn't say any of those things.  She looked in my eyes and gushed, "I didn't want to put it down, and when I had to put it down to do other things, I couldn't stop thinking about it."

After telling me that, she recapped the story, and she didn't miss a single point that I set out to make when I wrote it. 

It doesn't matter how well you know and practice the mechanics of writing.  If you don't entertain, you won't be read.  If you do entertain, you will be read.  That's the absolute of writing.