Thoughts of a Mad Man

For the wounded writer

When we write, we tear off little bits of our souls and fling them into the wind. When we ask for critiques, we make ourselves vulnerable in ways that most people never experience. Couple that with other pressures, and it’s almost inevitable to cause distress. Be good to yourself. Indulge in small pleasures. A book by your favorite author. A cup of hot chocolate, or a glass of sparkling cider. Music. Sitting outside, in the shade, on a warm and sunny day.


It doesn’t make your troubles go away, but it sometimes gives you a bit more strength to deal with them.

Francine Taylor,


in an email to me.

I love this so much.


There isn't much else to be said--other than that I have been feeling wicked upset and unwanted. I have been, also, so very petulant and contrary, perhaps as a natural effect of the first. I have defended sentence fragments on the grounds that the verb that goes there is a pleonasm--a useless word that gives no information. And not in the "Ah, well, it's a fragment that works," which would be valid because if you're not looking for fragments the collection of words flows. No, in the, "What did you expect me to do?" sense.


So, I present the above in case it is the encouragement you need, to rest, and replenish.