I've been sitting here reading other blogs, by other writers...seems like we are all struggling in some way or another. Some are lost in a fog of non-inspiration, forcing themselves to crank out work when really, they might just need to take a break for a day or two and go do something totally different, so that inspiration will creep back into their lives. Others are reflecting on what they are reading lately and wondering whether their own work will ever measure up to these published authors.
Another friend is in Germany and writing about her adventures. Another blog has interviews of authors, another asks for nominations for Maine's next poet laureate...the list goes on.
The one common thread is the question of whether anyone ever really reads these blogs, as the comments are far and few between. My answer to that is--does it matter? For instance, this blog is more for myself, a way to get thoughts out, a way to loosen up before moving to my latest writing projects, kind of like stretching before jumping onto my exercise bike.
It's fun to know that people are reading this, but if they don't, hey, that's okay, too as this writing is mainly for me. And that takes the pressure off of trying to be brilliant, witty, wonderful, every time I sit down to type in this space. These are sfd's, really (shitty first drafts, for those not familiar with Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird) and I never show my first drafts to anyone.
So, for those who worry about finding inspiration during the coldest and gloomiest part of the year, or wonder if they will ever get published..I say, relax... the more you struggle and push, the more your desires will evade you--don't expect to write well all the time, don't expect people to commiserate with you as most people don't know and possibly don't care that writing is a lonely, tiring, sometimes scary path to tread... instead, read other blogs, dance the salsa, go for a walk on the beach...
Hello, Lee, I am Zin! I am one of the struggling writers! But first I want to tell you either I or Karen reads your blog every time you post – we have it on our Dashboard so we see every time you post, you are not talking to yourself, we are listening! We do not reply often because, well, sometimes we just have nothing to say, and sometimes we are not sure we have anything to say that would interest you, since we do not know you well and you really do not know us (I am not even sure you know who I am, did Sally explain?). I do not know if you like comments or if you consider them annoying and messy (some bloggers do, they want comments from close friends only – I found that out the hard way).
ReplyDeleteBut about writing, I think you know we have been struggling, Karen and I. I have been doing much better lately since I started working on Zoetrope again in the Flash Factory office, I have been writing one or two flashes a week, two of them I am actually happy with, one already placed, and three others, I am undecided about whether I should work on them, they might work but I am not really crazy about them, I would rather keep writing and go back when I am stumped and can not write new materials any more. But I just took a six-month break, due to a very difficult experience with a teacher who pretty much destroyed me, and the people from Zoetrope eventually came to find me and rescued me! And we have been reading a lot, which seems to have been beneficial since more of my flashes are doing well now, they are more like the flashes I want to write.
Still, I have to complain about something, and it is that I have been writing only flashes! Just flash. That is in my head, this pejorative, "it is just flash" from that teacher, and I feel like if I do not write short stories I am not really writing, flash does not count. Even though one of my idols on Zoetrope is a flash specialist, he is extremely talented and many other writers I love write a lot of flash. But to be taken seriously you have to write short stories. And let us be honest, to really be taken seriously, to be a real WRITER you have to write a novel! I do not know how it works in Creative Nonfiction or in Nonfiction but that is how it is in fiction. Flash is for those of us who "dabble" at writing, or for "real" writers to do for fun or as a novelty. And I am so angry that I feel this way! It is not right! And yet I do. It is like the difference between print and online. One is right, the other is just dabbling. I just read a flash on Zoetrope by another writer that had me in tears, it is so beautiful, bittersweet, a little echo of sadness under a lot of fluff, really outstanding, and I do not think this is dabbling, this, no, this is what writing, what art, is about.
I did not mean to run on. But your post said, "Reply!" and I did! I hope this is all right. May we all find our way!
Hi Zin and Karen, I love having comments posted on here, so no worries that way. We don't really know each other, but how else will we get to know one another if no one responds?
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that you feel writing flash is not enough--I haven't tried my hand at it because it seems really hard to do, to me, as you are limited by the number of words you can use and yet, still have to convey a story.
So, kudos to you for writing flash and for whomever it was that put the thought into your head that flash is not writing, I say that's a lot of bs--writing is writing, whether it's flash, a short story, a novel, or anything in between.
The same holds true for creative non-fiction or poems--a two line poem is still a poem, a 2 page essay is still an essay.
So, just keep writing, reading, writing some more as that's what we writers do, right?