What is "Doom Eager"?

Lorrie Moore, from "Better and Sicker"
"Martha Graham speaks of the Icelandic term "doom eager" to denote that ordeal of isolation, restlessness, caughtness and artistic experiences when he or she is sick with an idea. When a writer is doom eager, the writing won't be sludge on the page; it will give readers -- and the writer, of course, is the very first reader -- an experience they've never had before, or perhaps a little and at last the words for an experience they have."

Friday, September 17, 2010

the audience of ten

"A man really writes for an audience of about ten persons. Of course, if others like it, that is clear gain. But if those ten are satisfied, he is content." - Alfred North Whitehead

I'm not convinced of Alfred North Whitehead's conviction that we really write "for an audience of about ten people," but I'm willing to entertain the thought. Here's my list of the ten folks for whom I write:

1. myself (I get to include myself, I assume.)
2. my father (It pains me a bit to admit this.)
3. the men I've loved (a collective "person" & I won't name names)
4. Joan Norton (my high school AP English teacher)
5. my son
6. Michelle G. (a close friend and former student)
7. James Joyce & company (a collective group of authors who have influenced me)
8. my mother (Why she's so low on this list, I'm unsure.)
9. Dr. Kathleen Hassell (my master's degree creative writing professor at UNF)
10.my brother Curtis Wilson Smith (deceased December 22, 2002, a talented musician and writer)
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