Eggs

While taking breaks from reading works by Sartre or Nietzsche, I do the things asked of me by my teachers. Recently I was given a small packet containing short stories to read, and one story appealed to me more than the rest, so I decided to talk about it here. The story more directly deals with the genesis of writing, as opposed to the developed process, which I am more accustomed to seeing discussed. William Kennedy is a noted author and journalist, and in this short story he describes an absolutely godawful short story that he tried to get published in Collier's.
It seems to me that the author had known all along that the short story within the short story wasn't very good, but he had very forgiving critics, such as his mother and banjo teacher. Obviously unsatisfied with their responses of "very good," he decides to ask his father, who validates his opinion that the story sucked. Not expecting this, the author is shocked and decides not to ask his father for feedback anymore.
This is a very simple story, but it carries several important messages. First of all, not every single piece you write, including your first one, has to be very good. It doesn't matter whether or not you write a completely crappy essay, as long as you decide that you like it, you may still show pride in your work. Kennedy keeps his initial rejection slip as proof of this. The quality of the works to come aren't always reflected by early stories.
Secondly, Kennedy shows that writing is a process, and you gradually improve as a writer by taking what you like about your work, and keeping it to use or improve upon later. The use of Herby, the heroic protagonist of Eggs, as a character in a later work exemplifies this. Even though "a retarded orangutan could write a better story than 'Eggs'," a story can "get better," even without becoming good.
Kennedy's story gives hope to budding writers who (by most standards) are terrible at writing. Anyone who feels distressed over the quality of their work, whether it be in writing, academics, or construction, would do well to read and analyze this story.