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What do you love?
Happy Memorial Day Pirates! The day when we commemorate sacrifice, bravery and honor. Memorial Day always feels like an awkward holiday to me. It’s a solemn day, the day we pay respects to those we honor, and yet it’s a happy day. The day we welcome summer, have bar-b-ques with family and friends, and celebrate what we love.
So let’s give Memorial Day a writerly twist. We all sacrifice to write – time, energy, sanity (opps, was that just me? Forget that last one, then). And courage, well, writing takes courage in abundance. Not just the courage to first put your fingers on the keyboard, but courage to show yourself, to keep writing when you know your inner most thoughts and emotions are bleeding onto the page. To keep writing when you know it’s not good enough. To keep writing when you know you’ve finally gotten good enough, and now it gets really scary because someone’s going to see it. And someone’s going to criticize it.
And it takes a certain level of personal bravery and honor to keep writing about love, even on those days our relationships don’t feel loving. To keep writing good triumphing over evil, even when the news tells us it doesn’t. And to keep writing the truth, because there are enough lies around us already.
And why do we keep doing this? Why do we soldier on, despite all the rejection, the criticism, the lack of sleep? The stakes aren’t as high for us as they are for the soldiers on the ground this morning in Baghdad and Kabul. Writing isn’t life or death. But the personal stakes are enormous. Writing is part of who we are, it’s what we do. And maybe someday we’ll all be published, and maybe we’ll simply still be writing in the quiet hours of the night, because that’s what’s in our hearts. But either way, it’ll continue to take sacrifice and bravery and honor from all of us.
Yet, Memorial Day is also about celebrating what we love. So, what is that you love about writing? What is it that keeps you coming back, year after year, in spite of the sacrifice required? Describe your perfect writing day. Is it the kind of day where you have no distractions and the words just pour onto the page? Or the kind when the writing wrings your emotions dry and you fight over every word, but in the end you know it’s as close to the truth as you can get?
Happy Memorial Day!
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19 comments:
I love when I surprise meself...when the characters surprise me wit' what they say and where they go. I don't know if'n it's tha part a' writin' that has ta do wit' the insanity part or not. But it be entertainin' and I do love that part.
Hearin' I did a good job from those who read me stuff is magical. And walkin' away from a pitch knowin' I'm takin' the next step! Frickin' aewsome!
And I do love sharin' what others experience, helpin' them and bein' helped. Makes me feel part a somethin' bigger than meself...
Happy Memorial Day all! :)
Great blog, Hal! Very good way to put it, that we're soldiering through this.
Personally, I like the days when I have nothing to do but write and where I can let the hours flow past me. When I look up at the clock and see that time has washed by me.
I also love when I read something back and think to myself, that's right, that's what I meant. Alternately, I hate it when I read something and it isn't right and I have to knead it and poke it and harrass it until it does fit. But the end result, when it does feel right, is worth it.
Happy Memorial Day!
What I love best about writing is that process of bringing characters to life. Giving them quirks and fears and dreams. Oh, and that moment after the longest damn writer's block evah!-that moment when something really really cool just clicks and you're like "that's IT!"
I have to say, it is much easier to remember what I love about writing when those sacrifices seem worthwhile. I'm still flying high with optimism when today I sent off my first request for the full manuscript of my story. A little hope of getting somewhere sure goes a long way. Perhaps too much! It's the feeling of wanting to write an acceptance speech for an award you've only been nominated for. Anyone else feel that way?
So, while I'm not sure how to deal with "almost success" (I'm not sure I love the wait) I do feel more open today to appreciate the joy of the "journey" and what I love about writing.
I love the opportunity to play amateur psycologist as a writer. I love the possibility of creating emotional heartache that has the promise of resolution. The HEA, of course. Uncertain in real life, its going to work out in the end in a story. I suppose that's what keeps me going as a writer too...no matter how long it takes and no matter how many times writers block makes getting to that resolution as uncertain as real life.
Even at my optimistic, I can't pick a day when the process of writing is absolute joy. My characters could have a joyful day and I'll admit to cracking myself up when writing humor, but I'm not "happy." It's a struggle to write. I wonder if I really even LIKE to write. But if I can write THE END and know my hero and heroine are going to STAY happy...yeah, then I love it. I really do. :)
Happy Memorial Day!
This is a great blog. Nice tie in, Hal. I haven't written on the WIP in a long while, but yesterday I spent 6 hours writing a paper for school and it came out really well. To the point that I scored a 155 out of 150. No idea where the extra 5 points came from. LOL! But the topic was interesting and the relief I felt when it was done (since I had 6 weeks to write it and started it the day it was due) was priceless!
As for the real writing, I love when the story flows and the characters write it themselves and then I read it back and smile. That's the best part.
Chance - the best characters always manage to surprise us, don't they? I love it when mine do something unexpected. And next steps and praise - always an awesome feeling!
Hey Marn! ahh, those days. When there's not the nagging voice in your head saying all the other things you need to do (or the real nagging voices expecting to be fed - lol). When you just lose yourself in the words. That's an excellent day!
JK - that's an awesome feeling! It's great any time the words click in your head and start flowing, but if it's been a while -- even better! Of course, no one actually wants the writers block necessary to feel that, so here's to hoping none of us feel that way again *g*
Hey Melissa! I must agree, sacrifices are much easier to make when we see the pay off. I'm so in awe of authors who had years and years of rejection before they made it. I want to say I'd have the same level of perseverance, but I would be so tempted to give up.
And the happy ending...I love that no matter what, there's always a happy ending coming. We can torture our characters for the first 300 pages, but there's always a happy ending. Love it!
Nicely done Terri! What an excellent feeling of satisfaction. I'm such a procrastinator too. I say I work better against a deadline, but really, I've never tried not doing it that way, so who knows ;)
Good job on the paper!
Yeah, I dance between that list of authors who had a bazillion rejections first as something to encourage me or leave me feeling totally hopeless! Depends on my mood of the day as whether it lifts me up or leaves me flat.
I'd almost rather think about the women who started late and still triumphed...that encourages me. Like Grandma Moses or Julia Child. I know there are others out there...I ought to start a list for when I look in the mirror and think it's too late.
I love that...155 out of a possible 150! Go, Terrio! And at the last moment, hee, hee. Pirate!
I like that - - thinking about the women who started late and still triumphed. I'd rather be in the second category. I have a handful of rejections and hope to leave it at that. lol Oh, and once (um, more years ago than I care to count) I had a fortune cookie that said "you will find the love of your life late in life." No kidding! I'm still waiting for that one to happen too...I don't dare look in the mirror for wondering if that one's too late! lol
Melissa - I resemble that remark. The second half anyway. LOL!
Chance - I really have no idea where the extra points came from and the teacher didn't leave a note to say. (The class is online so I never actually *see* the teacher.) Seems silly to send an email to question it, just in case it was a typo. ;)
Maybe you can save those points up and use them somewhere else... You must have impressed the teacher a great deal...
My favorite writing day, is one where I have the desire to write, and I can't type the words fast enough.
Thanks to all the military past and present who sacrifice everyday so we can have a free country.
God Bless them one and all.
That's a good day Lisa :) When your fingers just won't keep up, and your typing frantically so you don't lose all the good stuff in your head. Excellent!
Great blog Hal!
God bless our troops and their families. It is because of their sacrifices we can live in this country free to write at 3 am and drink lattes while checking our email.
With that being said, I love the small things about writing. The way the keys feel smooth underneath my fingertips because I've worn everything off them. I love the way the words appear on the screen and the quiet sounds of the dark of night while I write. Losing myself in the writing and before I know it, it's sunrise and the birds are chirping.
Isn't that the best feeling, just losing yourself in the characters and the world and the words. it seems like we all love that, the few moments we get it (or at least, I don't get it that much, but hopefully other people do!)
I like being clever. *LOL* So if I'm particularly funny--like if I read something I wrote a year later and it surprises me with a heartfelt laugh--I love that feeling. That it was a real laugh, it was really funny.
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