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Dear Whyville,
I, Kirbie393, am taking yet another break. This time, I don't know how long I'll
be gone. A few days, a few weeks, maybe a month or two. I couldn't tell you. I
can, however, tell you why this 'hiatus' has come about.
I'm angry. Plain and simple. I'm angry at Whyvillians for not seeing what's
under their expensive virtual noses; Whyville is a true simulation of real life.
There are many who are just in it for the chatting. Some spend all their time
cheating to raise their salary for better face parts, so more people will talk
to them, while there are small, Whyville wars occurring, and people actually
trying in vain to make a bit of a difference in our community. They spend all
their time complaining, while they could be helping, having fun educating,
learning and trying to improve.
I'm also angry at the Whyville Times. After stating that, I wouldn't be
surprised if the Times Editor stopped reading right now and rejected my
letter/article. That's all the Times seems to be doing now; rejecting all of the
things that actually mean something to me. I even wrote a poem called "Never
Good Enough" that you could easily tell had nothing to do with Whyville, but,
you guessed it, it was not accepted.
Perhaps I do sound selfish. If so, I guess I am truly a selfish person, as I
am often told. I don't wish it to be so, in fact, I'd hate to be selfish, but if
it is, it can't be helped. I also realize that many of these may not have been
written the way the Times Editor wants.
I want to get my point across -- some things have hidden meanings. Just because
they do doesn't mean they're pointless. My poems mostly do, and only the ones
that don't are ever accepted. The last poem that ever actually meant something
to me was accepted some five months ago. That's almost half a year. I'm sorry to
say that that is when I started to become angry at you all.
One more thing I need to clear up -- I do not write for attention. Readers do
have a lot to do with the reasons I write, however. I'll quote Giggler01 on
this, as she apparently has a way of expressing her feelings that I don't, even
if I feel the same: "Writing is my creative outlet and without writing, I am
nothing." I feel almost the exact same way. The only exception is that I
sometimes feel I need to share my thoughts with people.
Good bye for a while, Whyville. See ya, to all my friends.
Respectfully,
Kirbie393
Over and out.
Editor's Note: This is for kirbie393, but it's also for everyone
who's sent in something that mattered a lot to them but didn't see it published.
It's unfortunate that the articles and poetry you've sent in did not make
it into the Times. I could go into a detailed explanation of why, but to
be honest, you probably don't want that, at least not in public. The
general explanation will be enough.
Just because we love a piece of writing very much doesn't mean it's the
best it can be.
In fact, loving our writing can often mean we are blind to its flaws.
(Believe me, I know!!) These pieces communicate their messages to US
because we already know their messages. But to an outside reader they can
be uninspired, listless and even boring. Sometimes we'll write a poem that
we think gets to the crux of all of Life, but to an editor's eye it just repeats
itself over and over, culminating in a readily-apparent conclusion that gets its
readers nowhere new.
Not all of your unpublished submissions have done this, all of you.
Sometimes they just don't fit in the current issue. Sometimes they just
don't fit in the Times.
I'll admit, poetry in the Times is an odd bird. We're a community
newspaper, not a literary magazine. So the poetry we pick isn't always the
most sublime or most admirable. It's more often than not the funny stuff,
the cute, the quirky, the unusual.
I have petitioned City Hall for a literary magazine -- but that would need
at least another part-time editor such as myself, and Whyville doesn't have the
money. We can't everything we want, unfortunately.
And we can't always write what's best. And we don't always see the
best in a piece of writing -- as authors and as editors. We have to be
more critical of what we write, and edit.
I admit, I've
passed up articles that a month or six months later I came across and wondered
what I was thinking. But I do my best. As I know you all do. And then I revise, rewrite,
and have everyone I can get my hands on re-read it. And go through the process
again.
Good luck, all you struggling writers out there!
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