Day 56: Writing - Should we listen to others?

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 56: Writing - Should we listen to others?

A long time ago, I was chosen to compete in a national ten-pin bowling tournament. The question was, did I want to play in the bronze or silver division. Bronze players played with a handicap, silver players played without a handicap.

“Choose silver,” Jean-Pierre, a friend said. “The last thing you want is to lose to someone’s handicap.”

“In which division are you playing?” I asked him.

“Gold,” he said.

In my opinion, he was overestimating himself. While he was not a bad bowler, he was nowhere near good enough to play with men who scored a 200 average.

“If I’m gonna be beaten, I want to be beaten by the best,” he told me.

This got me thinking.

Yesterday I posted a writing sample in a writer’s group and my work got slammed left, right and center. One or two people had something good to say, but the majority found fault with it.

Then today I saw a writing sample from another member. To say that it was awful is putting it mildly. Not only was the piece crawling with typos, the grammar was atrocious and the story itself seemed to be written by a six-year-old.

Here is an extract from what she wrote:

I went to bed last night. I lay in bed looking at the ceiling. I couldn’t sleep. I got up and watched the moon. I couldn’t sleep because my brother was snoring. I wouldn’t wait for morning to come. My mother was out with her boyfriend.

Do you consider this good writing?

The other members of the group, those who had slammed me the previous day had nothing but good to say about the childish writing. They found it fascinating, captivating and looked forward to reading the next chapter.

Thinking that I was perhaps a little biased, because of the bad feedback I had received on my work, I asked two other people to read the work of the other member. Both their reaction was more or less the same ... who wrote this crap and how did she dare publish this online for all to see. Did she actually think this was good writing?

When I told them about my experience of the previous day they laughed and said “Why you do even bother? If you want feedback, ask the professionals, don’t bother with amateurs, they don’t know any better than you do.”

So I did. I asked two well-known authors, who have sold millions of books how they feel about criticism. Both of them laughed and said, “If I had listened to others, I never would have finished my first novel.”

They asked me if I enjoyed writing. When I said yes, they shrugged and said, “Then keep doing it. Who cares what anyone else thinks?”

I guess those are words I have to keep in mind. From what I’ve gathered so far, for some people writing is fun, for others it’s therapeutic, a way to pass the time, or to hang out with their imaginary friends. Whatever the reason, if writing is enjoyable ... go for it.

One more thing to remember ... what’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gender. There’s no accounting for taste. Do you think Stephen King, James Patterson, Lee Child or Dan Brown care about amateurs’ opinion ... no, they have an idea and set to work. We should do the same.

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Day 162: Toronto Cat Rescue Bowl-a-thon

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 162: Toronto Cat Rescue Bowl-a-thon

It’s that time of the year again. The Toronto Cat Rescue (TCR) is hosting their annual Bowl-a-thon to raise funds for the cats and kittens of Toronto.

Since Dieter and I love both cats and bowling, we registered for this event and are active fundraisers.

The first year we took part, our group was very small, and the organization barely raised $6,000. Last year, the group counted over 200 people and we raised over $40,000.

How does the Toronto Cat Rescue? It’s not a cat shelter in the traditional sense of the word. Cats are not housed in cages, but rather with foster families, their picture is taken and displayed on the TCR website, after which the cats are up for adoption.

The organization needs money though. Before each cat or kittens goes to their new home, they are spayed/neutered. If a cat or kitten is sick, it’s taken to a veterinarian.

If you can spare a few dollars, I would kindly ask you to make a donation. This can be done in three ways:

Canada Helps:

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/toronto-cat-rescue/p2p/bowlathon2019/team/paws-claws/captain/conny-manero/

My PayPal account:

conny.manreo@gmail.com

or via a bank transfer.

A donation of $20 or more will get you a tax receipt.

The cats and kittens of Toronto are counting on you and thank you in advance.

Angry Birds

A word of advice … now that Angry Birds is on Facebook, don’t start playing it.  Once you start, you cannot stop.

Even though Angry Birds has been around for a long time, I wasn’t remotely interested.  Dieter played it, but I thought it was just a stupid game.

When Angry Birds came on Facebook, I had to check it out, see what all the fuss was about.  I firmly believe that one should at least try something before forming an opinion.  BIG MISTAKE!

All it took was one game and I was hooked.

Those cute birds, the different challenges they face, not to mention the hilarious sound effects of the game make for a winning combination.

This afternoon I was an angry bird.  Kennedy Bowl organized a doubles tournament and of course Dieter and I were there.  We’re both diehard bowlers and cannot resist an opportunity to measure ourselves with other bowlers.

One look at who was there and we both raised our eyebrows … not only had other bowlers come out in full force, quite a few of them were of a considerable calibre.  We would have our hands full keeping up with them, never mind beating them.

Personally I am one of those bowlers who does well when it doesn’t matter.  Meaning, during social bowling I maintain quite a decent average.

When it does matter, during league bowling, my games tend to go up and down.  Sometimes I start off low and manage to increase my game score as I go along; sometimes I start off bang, only to go to pieces later on.  

 

During a tournament … well, I never know what’s going to happen.  I’ve had good games and I’ve had bad games.  I make stupid mistakes, leave pins standing and make one split after another.  The way I see it, it’s not my fault.  It’s the fault of my ball who develops a mind of his own.  

When he has to go left, he veers to the right; when he’s supposed to go to the right, he swings to the left, and then there are times that he goes dead straight when he’s not supposed to.

As for the pins … I swear those things move on their own accord or have something on the bottom that enables them to remain standing … glue, or Velcro or something.  

Anyway, in today’s tournament we muddled along until Dieter shot a 255 in the last game, catapulting us in 4^th position in the qualifying.  Our victory was short lived though.  To cut a long story short … we didn’t win.  Not even close.

Not surprising when I checked out the competition.  One of the men has no less than ten 300’s in his bowling career!!! 

We didn’t stick around to find out who ultimately won.  We left with our tails between our legs and went to drawn our sorrows in a large Hawaiian pizza. 

Does this loss teach us the lesson not to compete again … neigh, as I said, we’re diehard bowlers.  We may have lost a fight, but we will persevere until we win the war.

Do bowling balls have a mind of their own?

Anyone who has ever played ten-pin bowling has, at one time or another, wondered if that ball has a mind of its own.

There are times that the ball seems attracted to the pins and smoothly knocks them down.  Other times he leaves some standing.  Sometimes a single pin, sometimes more than one, and sometimes – heaven forbid – a dreaded split.

If not a strike or a spare is made, is it the fault of the bowler, the ball or the pins? 

Expert bowlers make it seem so easy.  They take a swing, put the ball down and it curves nicely toward the pocket.  You try and do that … and prepare for frustration.

Honestly, in everyday life some people are perfectly well behaved, but let them pick up a bowling ball and suddenly they use language that would make a sailor blush.  They swear at the pins, curse the ball and occasionally give themselves every name under the sun for making such a stupid mistake.

Where lays the secret in making that perfect game?  What does a bowler need to do to score those elusive 300 points?  Experts will say it’s about consistency.  Putting the ball down, twelve times in a row, in same spot, with the same power. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve been doing that – or at least trying to do that – for years and years and I can tell you, it’s not working. 

Occasionally, when the bowling gods smile down on me, my ball veers nicely toward the pocket of the pins and boem … strike!  Most of the time though the bowling gods frown or look elsewhere and my ball goes straight, or veers off to a place where he’s not supposed to be. 

Then again, maybe it’s just as well that I don’t make a 300.  A few years ago a man did just that and never made it off the lane.  When he knocked that last set of pins down and realised he had made a perfect score, he had a heart attack and died.  What a way to go …

Still, we try.  Before every game we have high hopes.  When we start a game off with a strike, we smile.  Two strikes in a row makes that smile grow even bigger.  Three strikes gives us illusions of grandeur and we can see that 300 in the distance.  Is this is?  Is this the time when it’s going to happen?

What goes through a bowlers mind when he has scored eleven strikes and lines up for the twelved time?  How does he feel when the last set of pins fall and the scoreboard flashes 300?

If it ever happens – and a 911 call is not needed – I’ll let you know.