A FEW WORDS ON WRITING (standard:non fiction, 431 words)
Author: Jennifer Green	Added: Oct 31 2001	Views/Reads: 3704/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A brief essay about the writing process, its joys and pitfalls.

A FEW WORDS ON WRITING 

Copyright 2001 by Jennifer Green 

Kurt Vonnegut said, "The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether
well or badly, is that it enables one's soul to grow." 

Writing is a spiritual journey.  It's about coming to terms with
solitude. It can be a black hole of despair, or a rich well of 
inspiration and enlightenment.  It's about knowing when to be tough on 
yourself, and when to be gentle. 

Read Steven King's book On Writing.  Read Julia Cameron's books The
Artist's Way and The Right to Write.  Read the Norton Anthology of 
Modern Poetry, especially the bios of the poets.  Many groundbreaking 
poets had difficult lives, but they wrote what they wanted and needed 
to, and so should you.  Take writing workshops, hire a good editor, but 
to find your own voice, you have to know when to break every rule 
you've learned, when to ignore the Ph.D. editor you've paid good money 
to hear.  But also when to listen to him or her. 

Get out of your own way.  Don't try to figure out, when you're doing a
first draft, if it's good or bad, just get the work out, no matter what 
it is: an essay, a short story, a children's story, an adult story, a 
poem, a novel. 

Keep a journal, but don't try to make it literary.  Make it real.  It's
cheaper than therapy and you're going to need it if you're going to be 
an artist in this cold, competitive culture. Open your heart and your 
eyes anyway, and don't flinch.  And don't become on alcoholic. 

A book or story or poem is first and foremost, a friend.   Respect your
readers.  Even if you're the only one that will read your work, respect 
yourself. 

Read your work aloud regularly in front of a group of people.  Your
critical ear will be sharpened, and you'll hear things, good and bad, 
that you otherwise would have missed. 

Finally, write for your own illumination and joy.  It's a journey, and
if on that path you find riches and insight and humor and excitement, 
you can expect other grateful readers to accompany you. 

My daughter takes Suzuki violin.  Suzuki was a very inspiring teacher. 
He said anyone could learn the violin.  He believed that it doesn't 
matter how much innate talent you have, you make your own talent 
through your own power.  I think that's true for writing too.  Writing 
is a staircase, not a wall. 

And lastly, writing is knowing when to speak, and when to be silent. 
And on that note I'll end. 


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