A friend who is also a writer, maybe the most gifted one I
know personally, was lamenting about all the things a writer must have. As she
has taken care to have most of these things, her lament was born of experience.
She is, yet, unpublished, although if there is any smidgen
of justice in this life, she will be. She has a website, a blog, a backyard
cottage with a dedicated writing room, a critique group, and an agent. She has
gone on writing retreats, some rather costly. She has attended workshops. She
has travelled to conferences in New York (also costly) and has a taken a two-years-long
MFA course resulting in a master’s degree.
And she’s got the most germane thing of them all of all— the
time and means to dedicate to writing.
And now, she told me, she has realized that while all of the
above have given her this thing called the
writing life, none of them is necessary. Great novels were written and
published without their creators having these.
We broke it down thus:
WEBSITE— Good to
have, but not absolutely necessary.
BLOG— Ditto
WRITING COTTAGE—
a dedicated space is really nice and helpful, but not a must
CRITIQUE GROUP— this
isn’t for every writer, and many never belong to a group
AGENT— Helpful,
but, again, not an absolute must
WRITING RETREATS—
Lovely and romantic, but the act of writing requires only a periodic inner
retreat, not an actual cottage in the woods
WORKSHOPS and
CONFERENCES— Helpful for some, not a must
ACADEMIC DEGREES—
these never make a writer, but they could make a teacher
TIME and MEANS— many
have managed their first books without having either
All these are helpful, and some are immensely so. But not
one makes a great or even fine writer. The “business around The Business” will
make you think otherwise. But they are selling the above.
As we talked about it, and wound up dismissing one item
after another, we found ourselves laughing giddily at the energy expended on the periphery
of the creative vortex. It’s lovely and interesting to “be a writer,” but no
substitute to, ahmm, writing.
It’s a funny thing about writing. Whether it’s cute ditties
or the great American novel, we don’t
need much, nor should we use not having much as a reason not to. We only need
to buckle up and do it.
Well said. A lot of those things mentioned can make the writing journey more enjoyable (and that's important, too, I think), but they aren't essential to the writing itself.
ReplyDeleteNice post!
ReplyDeleteSo very true! Those things are great but not necessities. The good thing is that someone who doesn't have access to those things need not worry. They can still write. :)
ReplyDeleteDetermination/desire - essential to every pursuit, especially in the arts, I think.
ReplyDelete*applause*
ReplyDeleteA giant Yes! to your post. It's when we stop thinking about writing that we find ourselves doing it.
Getting to that point can take some trickery, for we are all too good at finding reasons and excuses to keep from doing even something we swear we love to do.
There very often IS no time--and that's when you find yourself not even thinking about time because you're in the writing vortex.
Great post, Mirka. Seems no matter what equipment, credentials, and outlets we're fortunate to have, it's all a matter of having your work land on the right editor's desk at the right time.
ReplyDelete