Turds and Diamonds

I’ve just been reading Mur Laffery’s blog post, Diamonds and dandelions.   She outlines two approaches to success: the take your time and get it absolutely perfect approach, and the pump out lots of stuff and some of it should stick approach.

I like the post but I think Mur misses the essential precursor phase – Elephant Turds and Rabbit Turds.

The Elephant Turd phase is where a writer takes 15 years to produce their magnum opus, and it’s just a huge turd.

If you have had multiple stories knocked back by everyone including free online magazines, you are in the Rabbit Turd phase.

Like all turds, both of these are not for consumption. They do however, if used correctly, make great fertilizer for future growth.  The trick is to know the difference before you stuff it in an envelope to a publisher.