Quote: Can’t Look You in the Voice

It’s sometimes comforting to know that other writers, famous ones, wildly successful ones go through the same trials the less famous and less successful do.

Here’s a picture of a telegram sent by American writer Dorothy Parker to her publisher while in the midst of writer’s… block/angst/despond…

In case this comes up too small to read, here’s a transcription:

WESTERN UNION

1945 JUN 28 PM 4 37

NBQ209 78=NUJ NEWYORK NY 28 422P
PASCAL COVICI.VIKING PRESS=
18 EAST 48 ST=

THIS IS INSTEAD OF TELEPHONING BECAUSE I CANT LOOK YOU IN THE VOICE. I SIMPLY CANNOT GET THAT THING DONE YET NEVER HAVE DONE SUCH HARD NIGHT AND DAY WORK NEVER HAVE SO WANTED ANYTHING TO BE GOOD AND ALL I HAVE IS A PILE OF PAPER COVERED WITH WRONG WORDS. CAN ONLY KEEP AT IT AND HOPE TO HEAVEN TO GET IT DONE. DONT KNOW WHY IT IS SO TERRIBLY DIFFICULT OR I SO TERRIBLY INCOMPETANT=

DOROTHY.

—————-

I love “can’t look you in the voice.”  And, “all I have is a pile of paper covered with wrong words.” I can relate to that.

On that subject (that is, piles of papers with wrong words), I worked on Sky yesterday and today, and am slowly moving through ch 3.  I have LOTS of papers with the wrong words on them. My consolation is that I also have a few papers with mostly the right words on them, and also, that all the work I’ve done on worldbuilding here, will pay off later. And it is coming together if roughly.

Telegram image courtesy of Nancy Campbell’s blog

6 thoughts on “Quote: Can’t Look You in the Voice

  1. Christine Watson

    What an absolutely beautiful phrase: “I can’t look you in the voice.” Just lovely.

    And as far as “Sky” goes, there are those of us who know that it will be well worth the wait to delve into, even if the right words are slow in coming for a time. So looking forward to it. 🙂

    Reply
  2. insidethewriter

    Oh Karen, I am feeling with you today. Even my mostly right words seem wrong this morning. This is when I am tempted to ask myself if it’s worth it, and even though I know the answer is YES, it’s still hard. Praying for you today!

    Reply
  3. Matthew

    Really wanted to find this site. By chance found light of Eidon and didn’t pick it up for a long time. Now I can barely stop and am hoping for time and blessing to read the whole series. Thanks 🙂

    Reply

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