Post Edit Nerves

I'm headed to a broadcasters career fair tomorrow, so it might be a short blog for next couple days, but I still have tonight. And the thing that's been weighing on my mind is... Stephen King. 

I'll admit, I haven't read as much as I should've while I writing The Paladin, but now I have a bit of spare time and, thanks to some suggestions from a friend of mine, I'm now reading The Gunslinger from the Dark Tower series. As a reader, I highly recommend it. As a writer, stay the hell away. Well... maybe not. Let me explain.

See, reading something from a master like Stephen King, right after I handed off my manuscript to some beta readers... it's put a ding in my confidence. While I can certainly recommend reading The Gunslinger to anyone NOT writing a book, I might suggest you either A) read it WHILE writing or 2) wait few weeks before you pick it up. Obviously, I can't help but compare my work to his and, frankly, that's just nuts. 

The competent, composed side of me knows that I shouldn't compare myself to ANY other author, much less Stephen King. Every author is different. If Fifty Shades can earn a fan base, my work sure as hell can. And yet, there's that nervous part of me that's reading his words and thinking "Oh wow... why didn't I use this metaphor?" or "Holy crap, that was a great character intro."

And to top it all off... I'm not writing anything to distract myself.

Be Excellent to each Other