You share your work with a good friend, small group, or large audience, and at the end they just kinda stare.
Okay. No big deal. At least they aren't throwing hot pennies or calling for a pox on your house. What's in a blank gaze anyway?
EVERYTHING YOU FEAR.
That's what. The non-reaction is a Great White Wall upon which you are compelled to project your dreadfuls. The following are just a few examples of what can be read into that blank silence.
"Sorry, what? Were you making mouth sounds just now?"
"I don't get it."
"Is there any way I can get this out of my brain before it sets?"
"I'm embarrassed for you."
Maybe that's just my wall. I can't say what you'd project onto yours. I don't know why glassy-eyed stares can't ever be a positive thing in my mind, like…
"I am rendered expressionless in the presence of this living treasure."
Bwahahaha!
For me the scariest part about reading isn't the worry that I'll stumble over a word or my voice might shake. It's the Wall. That white expanse demanding the harsh pigments of my interpretation.
Perhaps I need to work on that. Rewriting the wall. Or maybe just leaving it blank.
