>>> Item number 19447 from WRITERS LOG9310C --- (47 records) ----- <<< Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1993 10:34:12 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: WOTD: masturbate [FRIDAY SERMON FOR THE INTERNET CHURCH OF PULSATING BITS] OAD: to produce a sexual orgasm by stimulating the genitals by hand. When I read our recently departed fiends message accusing us of public masturbation, my initial thought was perhaps rather odd - I was pleased to hear that we were doing such a good job of writing. Further thought (and the rest of the message) suggested that this was not the intent, but I'd like to expound that initial thought before I forget it. You might not recognize your efforts in the catchphrase "public masturbation", but consider. A writer puts together words, images, etc. in part deliberately to stimulate the feelings and thoughts of the reader. When done well, there is a climax (or even more than one) created by this stimulation. Thus, to term the intellectual intercourse engaged in by writers as public masturbation is to congratulate them on the initial success of their efforts. True, to those outside the circle of the cognoscenti this may seem like a rather rude comment, but I think it is perhaps one of the most suitable metaphors for good fiction I have ever been confronted with. So, let the foreplay begin, may your efforts be culminated with many, many climaxes, and here's hoping your readers respect you in the morning. With great writers, readers may even get pregnant and grow great with child... May all you scribblers be fruitful public masturbators! And remember, writing without caring is little more than a hand job in the dark. Don't bite! oooh, that tickles... (I'll quit baring that notion now, but.. think about it. there's a rich, rich vocabulary so well-matched to the writing life waiting for us to reclaim.) *tink*