I did something today and I have never felt better

Today for the first time I did something and I have never felt better

Up until now I have never bothered to show my mum and dad, brother, sister etc my work, out of fear of what they would say etc but I showed them it today and they couldn't have been more helpful. I feel really good about myself and they also offered support and advice and pointed out some mistakes that I had made. It was great! and I now realize that I don't have to conceal everything. I can show it to them

Good for you.

Personally, I haven't made that step yet but I like it this way.

I'm glad you have their support. My mother always knew I wrote and always supported my efforts -- No matter how much other people, including teachers, discouraged me.

You are lucky.. I've known people whose family was very much against them writing -- I don't understand why.

That's good! At least they didn't disown you (ha ha).

Having those close to you help boost your endeavors is always a good thing. Just keep in mind that they may not be the most impartial of critics.

One of the biggest supporters of my writing has been my Grandmother and yet, for over 10 years, I never showed her any of my work.

It was always either too personal or too experimental. The personal stuff was usually the most accessible, but didn't have any critical distance... about my personal life, family history etc. The experimental stuff had a greater distance from my personal life, but would be too off putting for a lot of readers, my grand mother included.

Finally, after over a decade, I wrote an experimental piece that was more accessible. I sent it to her to read over the holidays. She e-mailed back within a couple of days, "It was cute. Send more."

How do I do that? It took 3 Presidential administrations for me to write a "grandmother" story!

The rest of my family hasn't seen my work... I figure, it's just my family, you know? I figure my family has as much of a chance of being one of my ideal readers as someone off the street, so why fight statistics... it's not what being a family member is all about, anyway. More important is their moral support to what I love to do, not their critical input.

Besides, I was lucky enough to hook one family member into my fan club!

- Anatole

It is great to know that we're not the leper we sometimes feel ourselves to be. It took me years to show something, since I'm always my harshest critic, but a lot of the weight went off when I did. It's like coming out of the closet in a way. (Not that I need to do that, or that there's anything wrong with that. )