Just Writ-ing !! (“sounds like Right-Thing”)

I have been quiet lately. In some ways I’ve been aching to get back to this space and express again, and yet there is so much keeping me busy and fulfilled in the other parts of my life, that I don’t rant here like I used to.  There are seaons and this is just one of mine.

Writing, just like living itself, does not come with an instruction manual. This absence of step-by-step guide is what makes writing a unique creative endeavour.  As writers we do not have clay, paint, or an instrument to work with and lean on.

Through reading number of blogs and exchanging views with fellow bloggers who are either seasoned writers, or just starting search for their writing voice, it became obvious that some questions are common, notably; Is writing what I meant to be doing? Am I really a writer? Will I be any good, or good enough? What genre am I to write in? How do I find time to write? What should I write about? Am I just wasting time?

If those questions sound familiar to you, rest assured you are not alone. Despite the myriad of ‘writing resources’ on and off the web, ever expanding number of ‘writing gurus’ and alike, they sound awfully familiar to me and many other writers. There is even a debate or confusion on when and if should one call oneself a writer.

Well, once we learn to transform our thoughts and emotions into words, and then write those words down, link them into sentences; we write. We create something that has not previously existed; a piece of writing, a sketch made of words, woven with our own yarns. Threads we pull from our experiences, our sorrows, and our joys.  Somewhere around the same time we also decide, either consciously or not, whether this weaving process moves us or not. Whether we reach for it first when winters of our lives became colder and shores move further away. Or when our summers are so bright we are bursting with sunshine. If we keep on returning, keep on weaving, we no longer ‘just write’, we become writers. For whatever it might or might not bring. From that moment on we become eager to learn how to keep our looms shiny and productive so we can weave the most exquisite textures on them. This is when we start searching for help.

We browse the web tirelessly, we talk to anybody who might be, however remotely, interested in writing, we try to accumulate as many resources as possible. We look for those who came before us and left signs. It does not take long for us to learn that there is no end to this search. Because just like in life; when all is said and done, when all visitors, well-wishers, and passers-by have left, we are sitting on the front porch with only our dreams next to us. Staring into down where words should have been. We no longer wish to write, we long to have written.

For those moments, and for all of us who are intimately acquainted with them, I have compiled the following list of books I turn to for help. Because they work for me every time; some make me laugh, some give me a courage or help me understand what is going on.  And I hope they will for you too.

As you know, I am a beginner myself, so I would never profess to know much … but I would venture to say that I know enough to realize how little I know. There is an old African proverb that compares the knowledge to a baobab tree; no man can embrace it on its own. So if you have any suggestions, or questions; let me know.

Useful books about writing:

 

‘Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life’, by Anne Lammott, (author of ‘Traveling Mercies’), this book is not only a fantastic book on writing, but also a book on art of living. No matter how empty the porch has been, this book always makes me feel alive after reading only few pages.

‘The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles’ by Steven Pressfield, the book that will resonate strongly with those struggling with doubt (and that is probably all of us). If you are sometimes, or even often, paralysed with fear, this is the book for you, (and me -:)! Because both fear and self-doubt are indicators. The bigger the fears and self-doubts, the more certain it is that we are on a right path. As long as we can move at least a little bit along the path, that is!

‘Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction’, by Frank and Wall, this book helps you find your own writing voice. A unique, recognizable writing voice is what every writer wishes for. It is what distinguishes those who write from writers, and writers from authors;

 

‘Page by Page’ by Heather Sellers, the book that makes you feel less alone and shows you how and why you need to develop a special ‘talent of sitting in a room, all by yourself and getting used to that’ … there are times when we are all scared, lazy, nervous; those are the times we need to remember to stay in our chair!

 

‘On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft’, by Stephen King, if you have ever found yourself, (and who has not?) sitting in your room, committed to write those five hundred or thousand words a day, and after staring into the screen, or page, for some time asked yourself; Ok now what am I going to write about, this book is for you. Because the answer is; whatever you want!