Saying goodbye to the people leaving us http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/425238.html
and of course making a decision about who might be *joining* us http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/425695.html
So there's a lot on the plate.
But there is also the Work Room. Your space to discuss your entries and writing in general.
A few weeks back I introduced the concept of the "Mentor Program". I think it went fairly well and have been having some conversations with various people, trying to convince them to step into the role of herding cats for a week.
This week, I am completely honored to be able to say that I was able to talk one of my personal favorite Idol contestants, ever, into taking the time to be our Guest Mentor.
You know him. You love him. Or at least you better because the guy is just plain good.
He needs no introduction. But he's getting one anyway.
Welcome to the Work Room
alexpgp!!***
"Right now, I'm feeling a little like a goofy private that has agreed to set off at the suggestion of platoon sergeant Gary on a jaunt, under a sunny cerulean sky, across a summery green, flower-dotted field whose soil may potentially be riddled with high-explosive mines.
So why'd I volunteer? You don't want to know.
(You do? Well, it's because I don't know if I'll be any good or not at this "mentoring" gig, okay? Mentoring is not something people learn to do, generally speaking, and among people that learn to do anything at all, surprisingly few can put their knowledge to good use with others.
In the end, though, it boils down to this: there have been moments in my life when a sentence or two from a full-dues-paid someone who's been there has had a positive impact on my life, and while it may be my ego talking, I think I'm capable of having that effect on someone else. In any event, if I don't try, I'll never know. So there.)
You might be wondering, what do I like to read? Generally speaking, I like to read pieces that pull me through to the end and make me either laugh, cheer, or think. Said in a slightly different way, I'm a huge fan of Elmore Leonard's tenth rule of writing, which exhorts (marvelous word) writers to "try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip." Obey that rule, and my eyeballs will follow you to hell and back.
As
mezzominty before me, I shall do my best to either offer something constructive or admit to being out of my element. I shall endeavor to share my opinions civilly (and if I don't, take it as a compliment, because it means your writing made me forget my manners). Either way, recipients of said remarks are exhorted (there's that word again) to refrain from attempting to read anything other than their plain, evident meaning into them, as severe pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconExcelsior!"
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