There really is no professional codification. It’s just, “Well, earlier today I did some good writing, and that makes me a writer today, but yesterday I fucked around and didn’t do anything useful, so I can’t really say I was a writer yesterday.
Steve Almond, on making a personal commitment to writing
Ben: all the things i need for testing are broken
Ben: all of them
Me: i’m glad you don’t work in the mines.
Ben: they wouldn’t even be able to send my body back because the elevator would be broken, then the backup elevator would be broken, then everyone would go home and forget that the mine had collapsed and not reply to emails about it.
How can I tell when a story’s done? I get to a point at which it feels like I’m going over it and over it and the changes have stopped. But I always get to that point sooner than I should: which is why readers like Karen, and Ron Hansen, and whichever editors I deal with, are such a help. They always demonstrate to me why I was premature in my hopes.
Jim, my forevr advisr