Writers Quandary.
Clearing out the spider webs.
Changing the lights to far brighter ones to light up even the darkest corners!
Always worth the time to review the salient points. An organic approach.
The year still freshly begun, perhaps by the end of April, we can safely say New Year’ Resolutions start in 2022, but to think positive. Thinking positive for the next few minutes is that all 365 days can bring on a New Year’s resolution!
Worth mentioning this hesitancy of simply going for it. Can you relate? That urge to simply start out. Could be a surfboard, paddling out into the oncoming waves, not being able to see what’s beyond only accepting that there is mystery.
The writer’s mystery.
Or perhaps you’ve packed a day pack, couple of sandwiches, a thermos, good hiking shoes started up the huge volcano that literally forms a part of my neighborhood.
In both these scenarios and so many others like this one, I omit the potential for danger.
Perhaps, though, it’s implied? One assumes? No, I can’t accept that’s just as it is.
In so many of these small journeys that we start out, the danger is rather small. How harmful or potentially so is it to fix a tea, put on some light rock, and click onto the blank page… What danger? None, at least none here.
Paddling out to the surf on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, I could argue and backed by facts that the undertow on this particular piece of coast swallows people up every year. No doubt there are shark attacks we never hear of because the body simply is gone, no evidence. And no, they do not keep records of fellow humans like say off the coast of Malibu.
Then climbing the volcano is close to lunacy considering it’s a favorite stalking ground for armed and violent thieves who prey on fun-seeking tourists. These monsters don’t just relieve one of their valuables. If the tourist is unlucky enough to be female, there’s a real chance rape becomes part of the trauma.
What’s this got to do with writing? Everything. In a way. You gain lived experience to draw from for your writing, your creation. No money earned in these activities, though.
When you sit and start in on that blank sheet of white, and let’s just now forget all the metaphors, oh you know, there’s no immense ocean of flat white waiting to swallow you up. There’s no expanse of pointlessness just waiting to show the unlucky victims around you how shitty and without useful reason there might be to spend an hour writing.
Ah, and so it is. Or, and as it usually goes, now the predictable: ‘but wait! It’s not all desperation and loss!’
Ah, you wretched and lost human that you are. Look at yourself and see the utter hopelessness. You? Write? There’s something pathetically humorous there. Speaking to myself here now.
How many ‘how to write’ books and short pieces have you read over the years, (yes, this is all of us now), oh hell, how many have you, yourself written? I mean, sometimes when you’re really bouncing around at the bottom of the empty five-gallon plastic drum, hollow bumping, and tank-like noises of nothingness. Reminding us once again of the futility.
Oh, of course, I’ve read and did the suggested follow-up study of Stephen King’s latest on how to write. I can sense how much fun he had writing that book. I may be dead wrong, but compared to his very complicated, incredibly scary plots, the writing manual must have been just pure fun.
Nothing wrong with it, of course. He’s earned it! He even turned it into a cozy family affair. Ouch. That sounded a bit not nice, not my intention, it’s just amazing to me that a stellar writer, as good as he is, can do that and successfully. Again, the quality of his writing was wonderful. Someone meaner-spirited might add that King can get away by devoting a good section of the book telling of his writer son. Why shouldn’t he, his son is as fine a writer as his Dad. Again mean spirited, (hate doing that), so allow me to fix that as it’s not my feeling. He’s earned it, as few can say they have!
Oh okay, let’s move it away from King. We could say similar of the most ‘popular’ politicians and now their offspring share in the same opinions and direction with of course their own twist, their own grand designs for the better world yet with enough care so as not to stray too far off the accepted track.
How about the ‘great’ soldiers, generals, coronels, combat high medal recipients who now have offspring following in their steps. One thing worth noting of course is that the offspring chip off the old block had better have something to offer, I mean really to offer, or the eat or be eaten, the consumer market will cut you into pieces and toss you out.
We won’t go too far here, but look at some real examples: John Lennon kid, Dylan's kid, Sinatras daughter, the list goes on forever here. Of course, there is the list of those famous people’s offspring who have actually made it, though no-where near the stellar heights.
How about the business world? I wonder if I could get away with saying that at least in the business world there has been a rather impressive list of successful offspring following the footsteps of their ridiculously wealthy and self-made business parents? Think so. And yes, the list of spectacular, business offspring crash and burn stories goes on and on, often with astounding personal, drug-soaked, nightclub hopping, disastrous love lives can seem to go on endlessly.
Where do I fit in this? Want to be bored? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do that to you. How about if I ask: where do we fit you and me in this miasma? What can we do? What opportunities might lie out there for those legions upon legions of us who have not fully accepted the nine to five and yet have come up in huge zeros in the ledger of success. This ledger takes it all in: business, artist, writer, cyber, politico, medicine, architecture, the law…
Something else calls us.
What have I left out? Pretty obvious. The jobs that everybody has who are not involved with the list of ‘professions’ listed above… Important here, no critical to say that countless of these ‘everyday jobs’ are critical to a thriving society, a robust economy. One of my best friends has life by the balls as an example. Drives an eighteen-wheeler in Detroit, works eight to ten hours a day, is home every night. After driving for thirty years or so, they offered him the position of truck terminal manager. Loves it. He keeps working although he could retire on easy street any time.
There are the majority of people ‘out there doing these jobs. Some arguably may be challenging in a different sense, less attractive. But someone has to do them, and lots do. I shall abstain from getting detailed here as there’s no point in perhaps having someone take acceptance at my choice of less than glamorous jobs. And no, salaries made will not have us jetting to Paris for yearly vacations. That’s not the point. Nor the issue.
It’s about the ‘creative’ bunch! It’s amazing to me how much effort and ink are spent serving the questions surrounding the starving artist, writer, blogger, essayist, editor, sculptor perhaps. That’s us!
It surprised me, a comment made the other day by a fellow writer, that ‘the problem’ now is that there are too many of us! Too many of whom you might ask? Too many creatives! This guy’s comment suggested there are just so many financial opportunities for ‘making it as an artist, etc. In other words, not that many opportunities. Not so sure about that, though.
Could this be true?
Leads me to think that perhaps the perfect solution is, in my case, write but get by on my Social Security, which does not cover it. I suppose there are plenty out there who worked solidly in good-paying jobs and in fact see a Social Security that pays all the necessities. I don’t know of too many that have it that way.
Those of us, many of us who get by on Social Security, have to keep other irons in the fire to pay the bills. Hell, there’s nothing wrong with that either. Nothing wrong with having to continue in some productive activity. But! Here it is! Wouldn’t it be fun as hell if we could supplement income through our artist effort, in my case an aging writer?!
Oh hell, I need to confront reality here amigo, I’ll be seventy in a week. Not as though you’re going to see me hauling roof shingles off a damn truck to the rooftop, or sheetrock. Hey I know, I know! I’ve done it as a young guy. Or the knee destroying work of the flooring installers. Many guys did all their lives and at my age continue to do so if they still have backs and knees. Hey, these guys did well, made good money, bought homes, the whole thing, again no complaining here.
My thing is hotel work. Yes, I could manage a hotel but things have changed so much in the industry, and unless you come in as an owner and you set your own damn hours you can bend over and kiss your freedom goodbye… I did this work for countless years and not sure I’d want to go back to that unless the conditions were right.
Food for thought.
Take away is to follow the writers in Medium, the Top Writers, try to catch their routine, their mojo. Besides, hard work goes without saying that unless you’re willing to write for hours on end, maybe it isn’t for you. Besides having at least some writing skills, there are of course things they do we can emulate.
It’s no longer the New Years' to set one’s resolutions, but hey we’re still in March. We can dig deeper, try harder, and uncover that passion that must live inside us for this thing to happen.
We keep at it!
