I wrote this one day a long time ago out of sheer, overwhelming gratitude for my craft.
And you know what?
I’m still grateful.
-
You have all the tools you need
They’re right there at your disposal: the world, your five senses, literacy, a brain. You will never need anything more.
-
All you have to do is be a recorder
Record, as faithfully as you know how, the world around you as you perceive it through your five senses. Even one or two senses will work. Even one.
-
The more you do it, the more you love it, the better you get at it
The attention you pay to it makes it flourish. Your passion for it feeds it. Over the course of your life it becomes exactly what you, personally, need it to be.
-
Writing is a human activity
It is one of the gifts the gods have given us just for being us. The more you write, the more human you are. The more you reach out to other writers, the more human your world is.
-
You are not your fiction
When you create a fictional world, you are multiplying your experience of life. You get to be someone else, living another reality, and at the same time still be you. The more times you multiply your life, the more living you can do in this brief handful of years you have been allotted.
But the real you, in your real life. . .that’s the one that counts. And no matter what happens in your fiction, you will always have that.
-
You are not alone
Now more than ever in history you are surrounded by others—thousands of others—who also love this craft that you love. And the Internet gives you a way to be in touch with as many of them as you like, which is something writers have never, ever had before.
The community of writers in your lifetime is mind-boggling. Your literary soul mates are out there.
-
The creation of fiction gives your heart depth
The exploration of the world through the lens of your individual perceptions and choices makes you a better person.
Inside every writer burns the wild, unreasoning, piercing hope that life can be transformed through experience into something more than what it seems to be.
We can transcend the madness.
(Also, we have Western Spaghetti.)
The day job is sucking the life out of me today. I really needed this. Thanks, Victoria!
You’re welcome, Lyn! It seems like Friday came early this week for me, too.
Powerful stuff here, Victoria.
The best part is that writers don’t have to run to the store to get any of the stuff that’s needed. As your #1 pointed out, we have all that we need…for free. 🙂
Thank you.
Excellent points! #1 is my favorite. I’ve been a computer-artist for nearly 10 years and have been hitting wall over wall over the amount of upgrades I need on my software/computer/tablets. It never ended. For once I’m in a job where all I need it 30 MB of memory and a keyboard with all it’s letters, or NOT (I’m still missing my “j”). My brother even has a bargain-basement $30 type runner “wordsmart.”
If your brain works and you’re always looking to improve it, you’re in a good place. : )
It’s a pleasure reading your bullet points, btw. You always come up w. good ones.
Thanks, guys! Yes, #1 is the gist of it. For most of my adult life I had no truck with writers who indulged in boredom. What boredom? You can afford a notepad and a pencil. You’ve got no excuse for boredom.
The bullet point lists are kind of a joke that got out of hand. I started intending to go one week just finding out whether or not people really do prefer to read articles with numbers in the headers. That was two weeks ago.
Short answer?
YES. Wowza.
Maybe for Monday I’ll create a list of reasons why that is.
Great list! I wish my photography was free. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the opposite of writing. I guess they balance each other out, in a way.
“When you create a fictional world, you are multiplying your experience of life.”
This is the number one reason I love writing. I only have one life to live but through my writing I can live the lives of all my characters. I can know, learn, experience, and love in ways my real life can only imagine. I can be and become in ways I might dream but could not create without my writing.
The other 6 reasons are like M&Ms and Popcorn; the sweet and salty goodness that make the movie of life even more enjoyable. 🙂
This is so inspiring, I especially love #7! I’m so glad I clicked on that Twitter link. I had no idea I was missing out on such a fabulous blog!
I found your post very timely for me!
THANKS!
I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall with my writing so I’m taking a couple of days off to organize myself and read.
Wow! That is an amazing list! That is so encouraging. I have been thinking about some of these issues lately. But you have taken them to beautiful places and created a lightness in my heart with your list!
I just discovered you today, too, from Twitter and have read through several of your posts – you have such excellent stuff here! You are now in my Google Reader so I won’t miss any more.
But, of course I see that Marisa knows about you – wherever I go, there she is – I must get her list of who she follows, she knows everyone – I love Marisa, you are such a good friend!!
Wonderful. I love this. Thanks.
Teresa
Useful and inspiring. #6 is an important aspect we tend to forget. Writing isn’t the lonely profession it used to be. The Internet provices us with support in so many ways.
Victoria–I loved the Steinbeck quote you posted in my blog comments so much that I’ve devoted a whole blog post to it this week. “Beware the Authority of Ignorance.” http://annerallen.blogspot.com
Plus, you can make sense (and cents) of your personal tragedies. Sometimes, that keeps me going, imagining who would buy the essay . . .
Great post, thanks!
Melissa
Wow — I needed that one! Ditto re: the day job. Great Post!
Very true indeed, I couldn’t agree more. And can I please have your little office at the top of this page!? Its looks fantastic.
Love point #5. Very well expressed.
I totally agree and love how you put creating fictional worlds as “multiplying your experience of life.” – Great post!
I love being a writer because I can escape to another reality when I’m stressed with this one. I’m not say it in a way of running away from my problems but just escaping for a while and recoup
Loved the post. I have my pen and notepad giving me several lifetimes to live in this one life.
Great post, really made me think. [:
All fantastic reasons for me to stop neglecting my own fiction. Thanks for the post. 🙂
How much do I love #5. That’s all I want to do, multiply my life.
Love this post.
Lisa
Hey, Boo-Boo! I am sending you email tomorrow morning, but I’m thinking about your manuscript in between other ms’s today. 🙂
Wow! This has given me a renewed energy toward my writing and my goal of doing it full-time, love it! Thank you for this amazing post 🙂
Love these. I got teary eyed too. Thanks.
Once, years ago, I took my sister, a graphic designer, to hear the wonderful late author Madeleine L’Engle speak. At the end of her talk, my sister turned to me and said, “She made me wish I was a writer.” I’ve never forgotten that and I’m eternally grateful to be a writer through all the ups and downs of the profession. Yay for a great post.
Oh! Madeleine L’Engle. She’s one of the authors who made me want to be a writer when I was a child. I love her.