My vintage Royal typewriter, that I purchased at an antique store in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, for a mere $25. Mine has a place of honor on the sofa table. ¶ Every writer needs an old typewriter, mainly to remind us how far we’ve come. My author
J.L. Gentry even writes his first drafts on a typewriter. (He’s my author because I’m his editor.)
I signed up for The Insecure Writers Support Group (#IWSG) a while ago, which comes with the obligation to write a post the first Wednesday of every month. I signed up for several reasons: 1, 2, 3 ~ I’m a writer, I’m insecure, and I have opinions about writing that I want to share; 4 ~ I’m an editor; 5 ~ I figured it would force me to write a blog post at least once a month.
It didn’t.
And I got removed from the list of bloggers, as I should be, considering the last and first #IWSG post I wrote was in May. So, I signed up again and I’m trying again. Can’t promise there will be a post on writing the first Wednesday of every month, but I’ll do my best.
So, for this first second post, I was looking through the quotes I’ve collected about writing, and this one stuck out at (to?) me:
Remember your obligation is to write,
And, in writing, to be serious without
being solemn, fresh without being cold,
To be inclusive without being asinine,
particular
Without being picky, feminine without
being effeminate,
Masculine without being brutish, human
while keeping all the animal graces
You had inside the womb, and beast-like
without being inhuman.
Let your language be delectable always,
and fresh and true.
Don’t be conceited. Let your compassion guide you
And your excitement. And always bring
your endeavors to their end.
Easy, peasy, right?
Maybe not – except that, when boiled down, all the author is saying is that you should have balance in your writing, something that I preach quite a bit and hammer at the writers whose work I edit.
For instance, too much description bores the pants off the reader, while not enough leaves the reader wondering what the heck is going on, or where the character is, or what, dare I say it, pants the character is wearing, if any. Depending on what they’re doing, pants may or may not be required.
So really, the most important words in this whole bit is:
Let your compassion guide you
And your excitement.
Because, let’s face it, writers, writing IS exciting. Creating new worlds, new characters, new places out of nothing. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s difficult, but it’s oh, so worth it.
The funny thing is, I had this quote attributed to Polonius, but turns out Polonius is *fictional character*. As in, a character created by William Shakespeare in Hamlet. Now, Polonius is a wise dude in the play (or a funny dude, depending on what source you consult) – he’s the counselor of the king – AND he’s been played by all kinds of famous actors, including Bill Murray (who is trés funny), but he did not say those words.
Instead, these words are from the book On the Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems 1950-1988 by Kenneth Koch, in the much-longer poem “The Art of Poetry”, which you can read bits of in Google Books, if you so wish. (I did.) (And now I want a copy of the entire book of poetry.)
So there ya go, fellow insecure writers: write with balance, and it will come out all right in the end. Pants optional.
dSavannah note: I have no idea exactly how many posts there will be in my “So you want to be a writer” series. Hopefully more than just this one. But I promise nothing. 🙂
Excellent post and best of luck sticking with it. I do IWSG too and they are a very supportive and goodhearted group.
Now that I think about it, I believe you’re the reason I signed up!
I wanna be a writer…. I wanna but lots of luck to me!!!!
Then, write! And lots of luck to you!
I love you!!!!
Of course you do. How could you not? LOL
And I love you too! Lots and lots!
Lovely post, quirky & true, just like you. <3
Thanks! 🙂 <3 back atcha.
Thank you for the mention. My Olympia SM9 manual typewriter is happy and working well. And, to be clear, you are MY editor.
As far as the blog goes, writing about writing doesn’t always have to be about writing. Does that make sense? It does to me, so, you know, that’s kind of a warning.
Yes, writing about writing can be about something other than writing. Like, plotting. Or word play. Or manual typewriters. 🙂
(PS. Yes, sir, I’m clear, sir!)
The typewriter came from Cotter, AR. It was in the old hotel, amongst all the Elvis memorabilia.
I remember where we found it, but couldn’t remember the name of the town. It was a very cool old hotel!
Trivia for anyone reading: Cotter, Arkansas is the trout capital of the world. At least, that’s what they call themselves.
Balance is definitely something to work toward. When I first started trying to put my work out there, I dealt with a notoriously nasty agent on a panel, who ripped the first page of my manuscript apart because I described the two main characters in a sentence each, and she said she didn’t care what color their hair was. Then I became description-shy, which garnered me feedback that they didn’t know what my character looked like. Finding that particular happy medium has been a focus.
That sounds awful! I’m glad you didn’t let that horrible person dissuade you from writing! And I hope you continue to find the balance that works for you and your stories.
(PS Thanks for stopping by! I’ll check out your blog.)