copyright 2009, Aaron Paul Lazar
Or do you simply write for yourself? Do you need to control a parallel universe that performs at your command, whose heroes are vivid and alive in your brain, and whose villains bow to your will? Is your own life so out of control that this writing thing, this whirling, compelling, demanding art form does wonders as a coping strategy?
Maybe you don’t care if your books ever get published; you just need to satisfy that inner drive to write. It itches until you scratch it, lures you like a lover, and enslaves you like a drug. And it’s very unforgiving. If you don’t get your daily fix, you get grumpy. Supremely grumpy.
Some write to purge demons from a childhood trauma, or to escape painful reality. Others create romantic relationships that fill emptiness in their own life, or invent critters to help heal the ache after losing a beloved pet. Some imagine bizarre aliens in a world so unlike ours that tantalizing characters and stories are born into new galaxies. And there are those who create scenes with characters strangely like their dear departed grandparents.
Writing can be comforting, thrilling, romantic, and scary.
But under no circumstances should you write simply to sell a book. That kind of motivation will only disappoint you, and writing for money is often a surefire way to guarantee disappointment. Instead, write from your heart. Write to soothe your spirit. Write to instill order in a chaotic world. Write to entertain, to create twisted plots that electrify or shock. But don’t write just to sell. Because in the end, you may be selling your writer’s soul.
Let’s say you’ve written your heart out. You’ve pumped out a few great books. Suddenly you go dry. What motivates you now?
Look around you. The world is crammed with topics. Watch your favorite movies. Dissect them, list the ideas that stir your imagination, and make an inventory of your favorite themes. Is it unrequited love? Time travel? Gentle giants falsely accused? Delicious twists that shock and surprise? Spunky lady cops who save the day? Heroic animals? Fantastical fairies? Gritty city secrets?
Keep your ears open. Listen to news stories. The often unfathomable, sometimes horrific accounts will stir your creative juices. Imagine a twist on them. Then twist it again and change its literary color or scent. Don’t worry if it’s been done before. Just put your mark on it and write it with passion.
Tune in to real life dramas at work, church, or school. Think about your friend whose wife died from a rare complication of a cardiac virus, your cousin who suffers from depression, your daughter whose college boyfriend from Albania is suddenly deported. Real life is fertile and rich. It’s full of angst, splendor, terror, and adventure. It offers a mosaic of ideas, and waits for you to pluck your new favorites to mix and match into a dynamic storyline.
Last of all: read, particularly from your genre. Read incessantly. Read in the grocery store line. Read at the doctors. Read at the Laundromat. Read while you wait for the kids after soccer practice. Read before you go to sleep at night. It’s not only the best way to charge up your imagination. Sitting at the virtual feet of the masters of the craft is the best way to learn to write.
Life is full of material. Sometimes the hardest part is choosing your themes. Pick a few, and toss them around to coat them with new variations. Make your time traveler a dog, instead of a boy. Put an alien in your tear jerker romance. Create cute little cockroaches instead of bunnies in your children’s book. Or stick to cliché themes, but shake your own writer’s salt on it. Mix up your hat full of ideas and see what falls out.
It’s all up to you. Now go get ‘em.
***
This year is the 10th anniversary of the founding of Twilight Times Books (1999) and the 5th year since we went to print (2004). Those are significant milestones.
In celebration, Twilight Times Books will have a print book sale from Oct. 1st to Nov. 15th. Most titles will be offered to the general public at a 10 - 30% discount. http://twilighttimesbooks.com/print_books101509sale.html
For a limited time, and while quantities last, we are offering a 30% - 50% discount on selected titles.
http://twilighttimesbooks.com/print_books101509special.html (one of the deals is: Buy Mazurka for $15.15 and get Tremolo for $10.15 (a 40% discount))
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Comments: 40
Someone asked me,
"Why do you write?"
"What do you write?"
"Is it worth it?"
I write for therapy,
Self-reflection,
Self-expression,
A connection.
I write everything,
Anything,
Nothing that matters,
Validation.
Is it worth it?
I am not wealthy,
I may never be,
But yes, it is worth it.
Words are like magic,
Dreams that fulfill you,
A way of life,
My destiny, my escape.
Words are art,
A blank easel,
Waiting for me,
To paint a perfect picture.
Words are mine,
Revealing,
Concealing,
I own them!
© Dianna Doles Petry
9/19/2009
Thanks so much for sharing your story. Maybe you should write about it, since your dear friend couldn't?
But yes, I want to be read. When I make a great meal, I want to share it. Same with writing, I want to share who I am through what I've penned. Even if I've created a horrid character for my story.
And, yes...to have someone "get it" is plain exhilarating.
Actually, I don't hear voices. At least not that kind. I started writing as catharsis for hard times in my life.
I decided to recall the happy memories, and ignore the dark.
Amazingly I found an audience among the heartland periodicals.
You my friend, ARE a real writer.....
I got my copy of Mazurka today! Thank you!!!!
I used to read the Nun's Story about every ten years, but by the third time, I pretty well got it about not being attached to worldly things that can go away.
So now I write to remember the me that got lost in the years of running from fire to fire (figuratively) and other challenges. I write as JadeQueen in the comments on truthout and Seeking Alpha, and as Mary S. on Gather. I write on health, renewable energy, water, clean food, and politics, mostly.