What To Do?
A good quote, yet another that hangs above my laptop staring down on my daily workings. Laughing at me for attempting what hacks get paid for and I do not.
Every writer I know has trouble writing
- Joseph Heller
It always makes me think. Heller was a genius (anyone arguing/questioning that point just go and digest Catch 22 in one sitting, the way it should be done, and then come back and nod your head along with me), and he probably rolled with some seriously smart guys, and I think he hits the nail on the head. Writing is not easy, and it is not for the easy. Writing is a pursuit, and nothing in this world worth doing is ever easy. Even doing nothing, in the right situation can test a man. Just try and get drunk and watch a stripper undress your friend and try not to replace him with yourself. Nothing, just as big a test of a man as something or anything ever will be. Anyway…
Some people, people I know, expect wriitng to be easy. It’s just stringing words together, how hard could it be? Well, if you want to do it correctly it’s not always easy. And perhaps it shouldn’t be, otherwise everyone would be doing it, and I don’t necessarily agree that there is a story waiting to be written inside of every person. People like Diablo Cody should just hang it up, it’s pretentious wankery that spent too long looking at itself in the mirror hoping others will like it. But, again, I digress…
I kind of like that writing is a test. You have to find time for it. You have to find inspiration for it. You have to find just the right words for it. And sometimes, most importantly, you have to identify when you don’t have any of those aspects for it. Sometimes you sit down and just….
…exactly. Nothing.
When nothing comes you have to be man enough to walk away and go watch some more of The Wire. (I always find that exposing myself to great writing just makes me want to write better and knocks inspirado into me) Forced writing is never going to help. No one is ever going to like it. Perhaps it’s not the writing that is hard, it’s the set up that is. Getting a money shot is easy, but only if you are a master of foreplay.
So, do you take enough time to romance the words out of yourself? I’m off to light a candle and continue my six week love affair with my novel. Don’t wait up.
Posted on October 27th, 2008 by ryan
Filed under: Writing
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