On Writing

Last night I found a blog by a frustrated author which stuck a chord with me, so I left a comment. The comment was meant to be helpful, but I doubt that it was. Still, it got me to thinking. I don't think of myself as a writer, though writing is part of my job and I do a fair amount of personal writing - letters, journals, the three blogs. I am working on an article right now I think will get published. The craft of writing has always fascinated me. Actually setting down and doing the work, once described by a famous writer as sitting at your desk staring at the wall until blood forms on your brow, is a whole 'nother matter.

So it was with a certain amused surprise that I found two items on writing this morning that I think are worth passing on. One is by Garrison Keillor, who can certainly write - he may in fact be a modern Mark Twain. Here it is. And here is his advice on what to do when having trouble writing which includes a critique of Moby-Dick!

Walk briskly and it will improve your circulation and your brain will remember the basics of good writing: Cut to the chase. Cut the introductions. Cut the agonized introspection. When in doubt, write something that is fun. Read your work out loud: It's the automatic b.s. detector. Write on a computer if you must but correct by hand on a typescript with a yellow No. 2 lead pencil.

John Berryman once said that if you need to know if it's good or not, maybe you shouldn't be a writer, and now, in the last week of work, I take those words to heart. I just want to get done. And when I am, then I'll be free to read other writers I've been saving up. A young poet who is funny and brilliant, and a couple of novels by a friend, and of course I have a guilty conscience about never having finished "Moby-Dick," being an English major and all, so I may fish Melville down from the shelf and think about him for a while. He didn't cut to the chase, unfortunately, and agonized introspection is the ham in his sandwich, so I may put him off until winter.

The second item is a blog by Miss Snark, a literary agent giving plain, unvarnished... well, actually pretty darn sarcastic and biting... advice to authors. In between the wincing and laughing you will get some very good advice from someone who knows the business.

If you like to write, nurture unrealistic dreams of being a writer, or just like to watch other people suffer, check these out.