1- Writers and what they do
“The insatiate itch of scribbling.”
-William Gifford
What is a writer, and what does a writer do? Don’t laugh. There are lots of people out there who don’t know what a writer is and have no interest in finding out. Tell someone you are a writer and s/he either walks away or their eyes go blank and they give you a hypnotic grin as they turn away mumbling something like, “Oh, that’s interesting.” Hey, anyone who has made it through the eighth-strike that- first grade can write, especially in this marvelous age of computers.
A writer could be anyone i.e. mom, dad, sister, brother and on and on. Here though, we are talking about someone who writes for self pleasure, the pleasure of others or both. This is kind of a motivational thing, i.e. something to give those, who need a little nudge, a kick in the butt. So, if you want to write, get off your butt and write, or should I say get on your butt and write?
What? That’s not enough? Okay then I’ll give you a few suggestions.
”Give me a condor’s quill! Give me Vesuvius’ crater for an ink stand.”
-Herman Melville
2- Write what interest you?
This is first and foremost, especially if you are writing for therapeutic reasons or for your own pleasure, is to write what stirs your interest. You can be assured there are many that share the same attractions. If you can write and it stirs something in you, you need go no further. The rest is mostly mechanics. You can get this by studying for a MFA in ligature or if that doesn’t work, you can always have your work edited by a friend or a professional. Join a writing group or critique group.
There are many writers who write to make a living, and I venture to say a large portion of them dislike it, but they do it well enough to make it pay off. Something I cannot say for myself.
Personally, my writing began back in the sixties. I never read much fiction, very little education; I made it through the eighth grade simply because of my age. I was a voracious but painfully slow reader, and most of what I read was technical. Somewhere in the sixties I became a camera repair technician. My first writings were on how to dismantle and reassemble cameras. These were simple instructions and proper writing rules were not important. The main thing was someone benefited from my writings and it tickled me to see my name in print. So everyone was happy: the publisher who received free articles, the reader who learned something and the writer who was filled with pride. What else is required? This leads us to, write what you know.
3- Write what you know
This is something I hesitate to mention. First, it’s a cliché. Everyone and their brother say this. It turns me bitter when I hear it anymore. Besides, I like to write about things new to me. Things that excite my curiosity and I want to blurt them out, let someone else know about them. Besides, it no longer applies nor is it necessary. What do you do when you want to know something about anything? Hook up the old computer and within five minutes you’re neck deep in a world of new information, enough to write a book or two on it. It may take a year to read and study it, but it’s there at your finger tips. It’s exciting and accelerating; one cannot type fast enough.
”It’s right there in alphabetical order.” I can’t remember whose quote this is.
You be the judge. If there is something in you that is screaming to get out, let it out. Get it on paper or on the screen as quickly as you can or however you can. Or if you are like me, I first read and study all information I can collect on a subject, and then type it down one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page at a time. This is something not all agree on, but it works for me; I think. Here, I’m talking about short pieces. Novels and books I write are different, but I still tend to correct everything as I go.
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” -William Somerset Maugham
4- What’d you say? You’re scared?
There is not much one can say to say to alleviate your fears of writing. I will convey my experience with fear of writing. It was back in the early nineties when I first sat down to start keeping a journal. It hit me when I first put my pencil to the paper. Fear gripped me like it never had in my life. My thoughts were, “holy s—t,” one of my favorite expressions, “what am I doing here. Do I really want to do this? This stuff is personal.” My breath came heavy and sweat beaded my brow yet I felt a chill and actually shivered with goose bumps and all. This wasn’t my first time writing something someone else would read. But it was about me written in the first person. It was the first time I wrote something in the first person perspective. Writing this now, it came to me that this may be the reason for me experiencing fear i.e. writing in the first person and me being the person. Wow, how bout that?
If you are experiencing fear, maybe this would be a good suggestion i.e., first write your draft in third person, and then rewrite in first. In any case, I can assure you it won’t last long. You are not alone in this. The great Stephen King also feared how his writing might appear to those who read it, as I imagine do many first time writers.
“Many people are so filled with fear that they go through life running from something that isn’t after them.’ Unknown.
5- Motivation
Find something that motivates you, something that stirs your emotion, something inside you struggling to get out. Write it down or put it in your computer. New writers should be full of these things. I was when I started. I carried a subject notebook with me. I’ve been noted to pull to the side of the road to write something down. I wish I still did that. I read somewhere the other day that writing with a pen a paper is a most effective way to write. Something else I wish I had continued. They say it has something to do with your fingers being connected to your brain. I can’t count the times something came to me while typing a piece and I failed to jot it down. Later it was gone and it seldom comes back. I’ve started typing things that come to me right in whatever it is I’m writing at the time, and highlighting them so I could copy them out later. I think I’m getting better, even though the old brain seems to be deteriorating more each year. Now I have everything I write and have collected from the internet on an external drive, another hard learned lesson.
Put down everything that comes to you whether or not you think you will write about it. Once I heard something on the radio and thought it sounded like a good title. It was something I only thought the guy said. I heard it many times and finally wrote it down. Later still, I learned what the guy said was not what I heard. The phrase was “I am as one with no one.” That would make a good title for a love story. I later wrote a story to fit that title. Keep your eyes and ears open. Keep track of and write down things that catches hold of you even though they appear to be something else.
“There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody. The methods, even the ideas of successful writers contradict each other in a most heartening way, and the only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence-an overwhelming determination to succeed.”
-Sophy Burnham
Take your advice and finish #3 of “Forest”.
Just kiddin’. Maybe.
Thanks, I’ll take that under advisement.
Hey Ray;
“Alphabetically” is mispelled in #3. It should be “Alphabetical.”
Marilyn
Thank you. I’ll correct that as soon as I figure out how to do it.
Pretty heavy stuff for a guy with perpetual writer’s block.
You gotta ’nuff learnin’ in all that to write a book on writing. Go for it!
Glynn
Thank you kind sir. I don’t have the time to write a book. Besides, I’m having too much fun writing blogs.