He was, in my opinion, the greatest American fiction writer of the last half of the 20th century. Fortunately for his book sales, most think of him as the archetypal drunk, misanthropic male pig. Whatever else he was, he was also the archetypal writer, a force of nature who knew exactly what to do to a blank page.
Bukowski attributed so much weight to the single line that it eclipsed the writing philosophy of writing. If the single line was magnificent, the rest would take care of itself. In a 60,000 word novel, the working focus was on the single line. In the sex stories he wrote and sold to skin mags for money, the working focus was on the single line. In a small, immortal poem that 50 people might read, his working focus was on the single line.
Do you possess this kind of love for your words? Well? Do you? Possess this kind of love and respect for your work? Do you respect your craft enough to narrow your focus to the attention of a single line? It’s not easy. It’s not fast. “But this must certainly be a path to immortal (and powerfully influential) writing. If you can stomach it.” Robert Bruce when writing about Henry Charles Bukowski, Jr.
****************************************************************************************************
I’ve encouraged to re-write and delete and edit so much in my blogging you probably want to take a
‘delete’ key to me! BUT! It’s what makes a so-so writer into a good or great one.
Experienced writers know this and value the rewrite more than anything. That’s really when the magic happens.
In a recent interview here with Jo-Ann Mapson, she said, “I love rewriting. Just thank God for it every single day, because that is where good writing pokes its head up.”
A word to you aspiring writers: I’ve been there, believe me, when I was terrified to delete a single word.
Not that I was certain that everything I uttered was ‘gold’…..far from it….no, terrified that I had nothing better to replace it with. Now that I have found my ‘process’ I understand how I work. I write it in my head for days, then, when the moment comes I type (thank God for my Admin skills of 75 wpm in a previous life). Once the story is laid down, I begin the re-writing, editing, adding, deleting.
Re-writing and deleting: some of my best work has been born in the re-write. Some of my worst work has been 
deleted. Get it?
The Delete key: I know, I know, I’m a tired old record. But it can’t be said enough. Get to know and love your delete key. Every word you write isn’t going to be ‘golden’. Before you push your child (story) out into traffic (the world) you are the only critic and editor in the room. Be certain that you critique yourself; keep polishing, keep editing.
I’m of the school of writers that believes my work is never finished; I could and have found something to re-write in everything I have published. It’s a demon I have to live with.
The Mocking Bird by Charles Bukowski ©
The mocking bird had been following the cat
all summer
mocking, mocking, mocking
Teasing and cocksure;
the cat crawled under rockers on porches
tail flashing
and said something angry to the mocking bird
which I didn’t understand
Yesterday the cat walked calmly up the driveway
with the mocking bird alive in its mouth
wings fanned, wings fanned and flopping
feathers parted like a woman’s legs
and the bird was no longer mocking… (from his book of poetry: The Pleasures of the Damned)
Reprised from post 3/2013 writeratplay.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my weekly posts, sign up for my 
On the home page, enter your email address.
Watch for more interviews with authors. October: Simon Gervais for ROBERT LUDLUM, November: Horror writer, Kevin J. Kennedy, December: Marc Cameron, writing for TOM CLANCY
A few BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
Q. Have you or do you want to write in another genre?
to wherever you are going to sub. Editors often ignore anything that falls outside of the guidelines for subs. Don’t wait on a response before starting something new. Keep working, keep sending your work out, and remember, it’s supposed to be fun. Don’t take rejections too personally. Re-sub it somewhere else. What one person doesn’t like, another may enjoy.
Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
Kevin J. Kennedy is a horror author, editor, and anthologist. He is also the owner of KJK Publishing.
KK. Three. Carlito and Ariel are brother and sister cats. Both ten years old. Carlito is jet black. Ariel is a tabby. We also have a little Calico called Luna who is now 2 years old. They rarely leave my side.
A glaring, or perhaps glorious, example of a story taking an unexpected turn was when I was writing Women Outside the Walls. My plan for the storyline was that this would be a cozy little story of three very different women coming together while visiting their men in prison.
Q. What first inspired you to write?
Not a day goes by that I’m not presented with a word that I don’t know the definition of. I think it’s because I read so much and that exposes me to other authors’ vocabularies. 
Simon Gervais is a former infantry officer and federal agent. He spent twenty years in the military and in law enforcement, specializing in protective operations and counterterrorism. His assignments took him all over Europe and the Middle East. He left the RCMP in 2014 to pursue writing full-time.
windows with direct views on the mountains, is grandiose. It’s by far my favorite room in the house. It just feels right. And that’s especially true during the fall and winter season. The second is on the terrace of our beach house in the Bahamas. There’s something very special about writing a novel while enjoying the ocean breeze.
PoetrySoup.com home page this week. Poems are rotated each day in groups of 14-16 to give each poem an equal opportunity to be displayed.
