Letters to the Editor

• Notes to Laurel962...long post

  [Read the article: Go away, can't you see I'm writing?!]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  >I'm not against writing or creativity -- far from it, as I am a creative professional in another discipline -- but I know an awful lot of writers (amatuer, professional, wannabe, etc.) and I see an awful lot of TALK about writing and in contrast, relatively little actual work.<

  What's your definition of "actual work?" Publication? Because, if so, there are a lot of writers who aren't "working." You do realize that it can take years to write a book--Susanna Clarke spent a good twelve years on JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, for example. And it took Elizabeth Kostova ten years plus to research and write THE HISTORIAN.

  >I don't see a lack of "a room of one's own" or equipment from Ikea -- in fact, what I see is an explosion of people who WANT to be writers, and are deeply inamored of the IDEA of being a writer...of the solitary room, of the muse (uzi or not), of the cute office furniture, the Apple Powerbook, the neatly sharpened pencils.<

  Heh. Many writers don't have time to sharpen pencils or refill pens--and pretty much use Dollar Store markers or whatever is to hand...:).

  >I think most real writers write in silence, in a corner of the living room or basement, on beat up typewriters or out of date computers. If you are a real writer (or any real creative type), you can no more not write than a cat can stop hacking up fur balls -- its stuck in your throat and you have to get it out. In other words, it's NOT about about having a special space, or special equipment or a special group to go to....The best book I ever read about the writing process was by Stephen King of all people. (I think it was called something like "Stephen King On Writing" but I'm not sure.) Despite being a gazillionaire, the man writes at a beat up desk in a windowless closet.<

  Real writers do whatever works for them. There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what does. Example--novelist Peter Straub puts on a business suit and tie before he starts to work every day. By your terms, that is a frivolous expense on his part. But doing so is what gets him in a writing mood--and has ever since he was a prep-school student back in the day. Putting on a suit tells his subconscious that it is time to settle down to business. One could do a book on the various things writers do to get in the mood, but the point is, whatever works is good. And fyi, Stephen King has proved he can write--and knows a great deal about writing--so why the sneer?

  >In contrast, I have a friend who writes, but in order to do so, she had to build an expensive addition on her home and furnish it with "special" furniture. She's single and childless, and owns her own 3 bedroom house! It wasn't enough.<

  Oooh, those single, childless people--they are worse than locusts and grasshoppers put together. How dare she have so much space and not crowd it with a famblee. (snort)

  >She seems happy enough with it, but still I wonder if she writes as much or as well as she would have in another area of her house.<

  Is she producing pages that are good? Then she's writing well.

  >...if you concentrate on the outer trappings of the "precious writer's lonely existence and special place to write", instead of actually telling a story, then you will end up with a lot of STUFF and not very much writing.<

  It's a balance, like anything else. You can't get too wrapped up in the stuff aspect--but you can't overlook the fact that some things help you work better. I used to work on a used Toshiba that started acting up. I didn't want to buy a new computer--couldn't afford it. All I needed was something that had net access and ran Word. But one day the Toshiba lost a batch of research bookmarks it had taken me several months to compile. I had to get a new PC because I couldn't risk the time and money losing information would have cost me again.

  >My other point being that wayyyyy too many people today want to be writers, and overly glamorize the writer's life (all while sneering at child-rearing, homemaking, ordinary jobs, i.e., regular life) as being the most ideal.<

  I think your home/famblee axe-grinding is getting rather loud, hon...g! What _is_ your beef with single people, anyway--jealousy? How do their choices threaten you and yours?

  >Any visit to a bookstore will show you beyond a shadow of doubt that there is a huge heap of crap being published these days, a lot of it stuff that should have never seen the light of day. The standards today are so low that a lot of people being published would have NEVER made it into print a few decades ago, when editors were really editors and not just flunkies.<

  There's really never been a Golden Age of Publishing. For every book Maxwell Perkins signed off on, there were at least five books that were junk or forgettable, even back in the day. And if the standards are so low today, why isn't everyone getting published?

  >And that's what it is about, no matter what your writer's workshop or expensive "retreats" or creative writing class instructor tells you. It's about telling stories. If there is a story inside of you, tell it. Because that doesn't require precious little writing spaces, laptops, classes, or the permission of other people.<

  Wanting to tell a story and having the means/time/space to do so is all of a piece. You can't separate one out from another--or always use one to judge a writer's quality.

  Permalink Friday, January 4, 2008 09:26 AM