AUTHOR’S GAB, READER TALK.
A LETTER TO YOU, THE READER, SO THAT YOU CAN FINALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT I’M THINKING.
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THIS MONTH: A Reminder from Rebels
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“At times, my craft always turned me away, it didn’t want anything to do with me. Because this craft is never consolation or a diversion. It is no companion. This craft is a master, a master capable of drawing blood, a master who shouts and passes judgement. We have to swallow our spit and tears and grit our teeth and wipe the blood from our wounds and serve him. Serve him on demand. Only then will he help us get back up and plant our feet firmly on the ground, help us overcome madness and delirium, fever and despair. But he is always the one in charge; he turns a deaf ear to our neediness.”
— Natalia Ginzburg, taken from “My Craft” , an essay in her book, “a place to live”
Dear Reader,
As I wrote in December, I have been keeping this blog up for a long time. Ad Libs were never really, originally a part of it, but they became part of the blog over time. Now, it’s almost become like a monthly column I write, a check on my to-do list I have to take care of once a month.
But, the problem is: I’m lazy. Or, just caught up in everything else I’m doing, thinking or feeling just then. I even gave up writing Ad Libs altogether for awhile, because the work was too demanding for my lifestyle at the time. And, I tried to cheat with doing every other month, but that didn’t really work either. Even now, I’m writing January’s Ad Lib in February, if that gives you any idea how skilled I really am at procrastination.
I loathe the idea of having to sit down, carve out an hour I don’t really have and just etch out this month’s column. I’m not sure if you all realize, but it takes quite a bit of research sometimes to write these columns, get my thoughts out on some pieces I’m working on and still sound like I know what I’m talking about. Oftentimes, I really have to think about what I’m going to say, since Ad Libs are meant to be about writing and not about my personal life, which, I’m sure, you all appreciate me keeping to myself (unless it indeed is necessary to write about!).
But, then, I sit down, and all the humbug of sitting down goes away. I’m writing. I’m doing what I enjoy doing. And, somehow, it seems like all that stress maybe didn’t ever happen at all.
The point is, however, writing can be really demanding sometimes. You do have to sit down and write that essay, that column, that story, that poem, that short piece of fiction. Especially when you are actually writing a book, you have to stick to that book and make sure it gets finished, just like any old project you never did complete.
Because, “getting it finished” is often more than you have attention and emotional energy for. I know. My stack of filing is still sitting in the corner over a year later, still not finished with every intent of getting finished. My quilting project I started for my sister still isn’t done one year later, with all good aims of completion. Life gets in the way, you lose interest for a time and you wake up one year later saying to yourself, “You know, I never did finish that thing I was going to do.”
It’s because we are lazy like this that writing becomes so demanding. To be a writer, you have to stick with your writing and can’t get lazy. Or, you really are not a writer anymore, because you’re not writing.
If you are all indignant at the thought of not being called a writer, remember that, indeed, you have written; but, you must KEEP writing. Writing is a continual process that eats up your life like Natalia Ginzburg writes in her book, “a place to live”.
The essay is called, “My craft”, and it’s about all her exploits in writing throughout the years. I have to say, it’s been a joy to read. There are some pieces of writing you pick up and they are just a delicious bite of words. Such has been this book, especially because she is writing about writing in this essay. I never got lost, except in my own imagination in the pages. That is always a really good sign of a great writer.
She compares writing to “drawing blood”, a merciless but rewarding craft. The joy and the hatred is in the dedication to putting the words down on the page. And yet, when you do, and you write from the inside, it becomes something beautiful.
Similarly, while it received terrible reviews, the movie, “The Rebel in the Rye”, catches this similar point about the creative process. J.D. Salinger is sitting in his mentor’s office, plopping short story after poem on his professor’s desk, hung up on writer’s block.
“Write a novel”, his professor insists.
“But, I only write poems and short stories!”
“That’s because you are lazy,” his professor quips. “You have to keep at it or you’re not a writer.”
Such is the product of my late-night movie watching after work. Perhaps, Salinger, the famous recluse and author of “Catcher in the Rye” would have been ashamed of the biography on his life. But, the notes taken on his creative process, true or not, are still creative truths (such as this one) we must follow as writers. Be it noted that when he did sit down and actually commit himself and write, he produced one of the greatest fictional works in history.
I myself have started reading the book and found Holden Caufield’s steady stream of consciousness and defining tone and personality to be clear strengths in the book. This, in fact, is much like how Ginzburg writes in her essay, both from the first person person perspective. They are beautiful pieces of work, produced from time and dedication to their craft.
Writing draws blood, and the blood it draws is yours. If you think your blood, sweat and tears will not be all over your piece by the time you are done, think again. Otherwise, you probably won’t end up with anything remotely you are satisfied with.
This is the reminder from the rebel, Salinger, and the crafter in Ginzburg: we cannot be lazy. We must be diligent. We must keep writing, because we have to to keep being writers. Otherwise, we fall by the wayside and cease to be relevant.
A columnist I know for the Morning Sun newspaper in Mount Pleasant, Louise Platcha, recently passed away from old age at 92. And, you know what? She published her last column in December, and just died this past week. We all were in shock in the newsroom because she had passed. She was an avid member of her community and a writer to the core.
Even at 92, practically from her deathbed, she kept on writing. That, my friends, is dedication. That is writing.
So, I guess this means I have run out of excuses. No more skipping Ad Libs, finding excuses not to write each month. As my friend, Tam, told me on Sunday, “Quit finding excuses and just do it.”
Be it sound like a Nike commercial or be it just the cold hard truth about anything in life, it remains a principle of writing. You have to get up, just do it and keep on doing it. Such is the bane of being a writer.
Thus, you can’t get lazy. You must stay diligent. Because, you are a writer.
Think about that.~
Sincerely, Your Writer,
Jessica A. McLean
The Rose 