Hear Jim’s 3-minute podcast on youtube: https://youtu.be/
or read the transcript below:
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Life, actually…
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LOTS OF NOTHINGS SOMETIMES BECOME SOMETHINGS
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“Once more, I yearn to be kind and young and sweet and dancing on air.
Just once more.”
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An octogenarian author adds this quote to his current manuscript. He’s about to publish a new book. It is strange to contemplate the quote, since he does not know how it happened.
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A second quote issues forth:
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“Ever notice how you don’t know for sure until you know for sure?”
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Is this profound or just plain silly? Again, the author has no way of knowing.
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Like many writers, he has learned to let it all rain down. He has learned to regard every single thought as special and unique. He has learned not to discard or judge each thought himself. He has learned to allow readers to make their own judgements as to whether these thoughts should endure. He must await the reactions of readers. All ego must be put aside.
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The reader knows.
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The author abides.
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The manuscript is about to become a book, the book is about to be opened, the reader is about to laugh or weep or grimace, depending on which page is turned.
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Over a fifty-year period, the author has squirreled away hundreds of thoughts on scraps of paper. He knows that each thought has to be marinated and aged until it takes on meaning and depth.
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No joke.
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It is difficult to explain this writing technique, but it works for this particular author during this particular lifetime, and that is all he needs to know.
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So, the octogenarian author plies his trade, prepares his manuscript, takes final notes on original and puzzling thoughts that flail about for years before explaining themselves.
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The author activates the spigot. The reader drinks and judges. The verdict soon animates itself
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© 2024 A.D. by Jim Reed
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