The smell of paper.

Yesterday we had a game night with some friends from our ward. One of them is a writer and he has just given his first completed novel to an editor. He also gave me a copy of his manuscript since I'm a writer too and he hopes to recieve valuable feedback.

I haven't actually read his work yet, but I got excited holding a completed novel in my hands. (Not to mention that alluring smell of paper that any book lover cannot deny!) There's something so encouraging to me about seeing that someone else has done it and it makes me feel like I can too. Publishing isn't the mark of a good writer, as I have disdainfully expressed in a previous blog. However, I still confess that I am a dreamer by nature and the dream of making money from my writing never quite goes away. More important than monetary gain, though, is the outreach of a published work. How can writing influence people if they can never have access to it? Literature has tremendous power to influence humanity and I want to be part of that.

I guess writers need other writers because we can remind each other that what we are attempting to do is indeed worthwhile. And besides, it's fun!