Hi everybody. I've posted so often about feeling really bad that I just wanted to share something good. I hope people don't take this as being really full of myself. I'm just very excited.
I've said that I'm taking a writing workshop, and it's been hard, but I've kept with it. I just want to quote you the instructor's comments about my second submission:
This is the best essay I've read at [name of venue sponsoring the class] in years. It's really well done. It's very close to being ready to publish. You're a terrific writer. I know that a lot of readers would resonate very strongly with what you have to say. Send it off.
The outpouring of genuine (well, it certainly felt genuine) support and appreciation from the other students was gratifying, to say the least. This was a very personal piece of writing, and I felt somewhat nervous about putting it "out there"--unsure whether my fellow students would be able to confine their criticisms to the writing, or would feel it necessary to go after the writer. But everyone was so wonderful about it, I felt incredibly validated and grateful.
Anyway, as I say, I don't mean to come off as full of my own success. I just wanted to share this (very small) thrill of victory with those of you who have been kind enough to talk me through the agony of (self)-defeat.
best,
daylily