WRITER'S EYE
"You don't have anything if you don't have stories.
- Leslie Silko
In pursuit of the idea of being a writer, many of us forget the reason we started writing to begin with. I started at the age of ten for several reasons. I had read everything in the school library and decided to write my own stories was one reason. But the main reason was that I could climb to the top of a mulberry tree and hide behind the leaves where I ignored mama's call to do chores. All the while, I was pursuing my need to write.
Over these many years I have gone through the usual phases of writing for self. Once I thought I could make writing a fulltime career--with all the visions of grandiose that idea contains. How wonderful it would be to "make it big." I soon realized that was an unrealistic dream. Writers abound. Markets have dwindled. And I learned something about my true motives--money is not the most important thing to me.
A "real writer" puts her heart into every line she writes, no matter how big or small or lack of, payment. I know writing is an art and it requires time, patience and, for me, most of all it demands a love for the craft.
There have been "gaps" in my writing path. Times while working and raising a family that I was a "closet writer." For many years my job required a great deal of technical writing and, unless that is your love, there is no greater turn-off to the other creations of pleasure than to write manuals or descriptions to accompany photos or articles on how-to repair a radar system or some such engineering creation.
Somehow along the way I lost my writer's eye. In the past five years or so I have developed that long unused skill again. I notice the moon and it's many shapes, the multicolored beauty growing in the area where I live, and the smell of pines, call of mallard ducks, and the rush of the river at my favorite campsite. I listen to people. I tune into real life.
These observations are made note of--in my journal or a small notebook I always carry. Or in the margins of something I am currenty working on. Words, phrases, notes--used in the new burst of creative writing projects I involve myself in.
The love for writing, not for fame or fortune, is once again the reality. My writer's eye is determined to keep me on the path to success--whatever I decide the meaning of that word is for me--for I am a writer, someone who cares enough to put words on paper.
******
Write at least a page on a project you've put aside. Tomorrow I will share my page with you.
I
- Leslie Silko
In pursuit of the idea of being a writer, many of us forget the reason we started writing to begin with. I started at the age of ten for several reasons. I had read everything in the school library and decided to write my own stories was one reason. But the main reason was that I could climb to the top of a mulberry tree and hide behind the leaves where I ignored mama's call to do chores. All the while, I was pursuing my need to write.
Over these many years I have gone through the usual phases of writing for self. Once I thought I could make writing a fulltime career--with all the visions of grandiose that idea contains. How wonderful it would be to "make it big." I soon realized that was an unrealistic dream. Writers abound. Markets have dwindled. And I learned something about my true motives--money is not the most important thing to me.
A "real writer" puts her heart into every line she writes, no matter how big or small or lack of, payment. I know writing is an art and it requires time, patience and, for me, most of all it demands a love for the craft.
There have been "gaps" in my writing path. Times while working and raising a family that I was a "closet writer." For many years my job required a great deal of technical writing and, unless that is your love, there is no greater turn-off to the other creations of pleasure than to write manuals or descriptions to accompany photos or articles on how-to repair a radar system or some such engineering creation.
Somehow along the way I lost my writer's eye. In the past five years or so I have developed that long unused skill again. I notice the moon and it's many shapes, the multicolored beauty growing in the area where I live, and the smell of pines, call of mallard ducks, and the rush of the river at my favorite campsite. I listen to people. I tune into real life.
These observations are made note of--in my journal or a small notebook I always carry. Or in the margins of something I am currenty working on. Words, phrases, notes--used in the new burst of creative writing projects I involve myself in.
The love for writing, not for fame or fortune, is once again the reality. My writer's eye is determined to keep me on the path to success--whatever I decide the meaning of that word is for me--for I am a writer, someone who cares enough to put words on paper.
******
Write at least a page on a project you've put aside. Tomorrow I will share my page with you.
I
posted by Barb | 11:48 AM
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