Writing
Like any job writing can be fun or hell. Mostly, it is what you make of it. I do hate stories by writers who whine about how difficult it is to write. What a bunch of bull.
The best movie I’ve seen about writing is “Adaptation.” If you are a writer you have to see it.
The best story I’ve ever heard about writing was at a conference in Milwaukee from a freelancer. He said he never had writer’s block because he had a great muse. His muse was a short, fat, bald guy who lived about five miles down the road from him named Jim. It seems Jim was the banker who held the writer’s mortgage. The writer said that if he ever got stuck he thought of Jim and the words started to flow.
Same guy also said that if anyone ever asks you if you can write on a subject, any subject, the answer is always yes. If someone offers to pay you for a piece, the answer is yes. If you’re good enough to have people offer you money, you’re smart enough to research the subject and write something cogent.
The scariest thing I ever heard from a writer was that you are responsible for what you write. If you write something and someone, like your mother or sister or best friend, takes offense, you get to live with that. Your facts must be right, but that does not protect you from the consequences of your words. See the movie “Absence of Malice” with Sally Fields and Paul Newman. If it doesn’t make you think, stick to fiction.
The most fun I have is working on a novel manuscript. In ten years and five manuscripts. I’ve never sold one. Three of them should never see the light of day, but I have hopes for my current effort.
The best thing about writing in “the long form” is the writer’s groups I belong to. (Poor sentence structure) We read our work aloud to each other. These people are so good and work so hard at there manuscripts you better bring your “A” game when you read. There is nothing better for the written word then to read it out loud to a critical group.
Finally, you best understand how to take criticism. Never take honest criticism personally. Remember the critic sees something you do not. Try to stand in the critics shoes and look at your work. You don’t have to agree with the critic, just think about it.
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