173 words are not 500 words. I recognize that. When I wrote
my last post, I was done at 173 words. I tried to push on – to meet the word
count. Then I realized, the story was done. Just because I’d written only 173
words didn't mean I should force the story to be longer than it was. The beauty
of this blogging thing is – I can write another story. I don’t even need to publish
this second story at the same time. I can give it some space. I can save this
little gem and post it later.
Calling this piece a gem is stretching it, I fear. However,
it’s a good lesson gleaned from years of writing to meet a word count. In
college I became a master of filling space. I did try to make the filler
pertinent to the topic and interesting enough that my professors would want
read my papers and wouldn't lower the grade just because of fluff.
And that’s what this is – a fluff piece. I’m trying to
decide while I write if I’m even going to post this. The exercise is to write 500 words a day, not publish 500 words a day. I’ll have to
think about it through the day and decide if this is something worth reading.
On one hand, it allows readers to see my thought processes. On the other, the
old adage comes to mind “no one wants to see how sausage is made.” But this is
writing, not sausage.
Truth be told (gotta love clichés) I really need to pick
topics that interest me enough that the word count isn't the most important
thing. I could reel off a list of topics here – that would be in the grand
tradition of filler and fluff, wouldn't it? I could reach out to those who are
following me – all two of you J
- and ask for topic ideas.
Yep, this is a fluff piece.
I’ll probably post it.
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