And So I Return

Hey folks! How's it hanging?

When I finished last week's post, I told myself I wouldn't post again unless I had something to say. I've put some thought into this post, but I can't really say (write in this case, ha!) I'm down with writing a regular blog update. However, this is finals week and things have been slow. And I've done enough studying to make my head explode. I just want to write. However, come Wednesday, I shall be home and the new writing project shall begin shortly thereafter.

Why have I posted a blog then?

Funny you ask, because I want to deconstruct more rules.

Another thing I find odd is writer folks telling other writer folks how to go about their writing. I'm going to pick on Stephen King because he recently spoke to a University about writing and said something that rubbed me the wrong way. Before I continue, it might be a good idea to reiterate that I love King's writing. I just think he's a top dog whose gotten a little too use to hearing his own voice.

Here's how I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna build a segue and we'll ride it into the main point. You okay with that? Yeah? Right on, let's roll.

King Talks About Writer-ish Stuff 

Stephen King spoke about a couple things, how he gets his ideas (not sure how he figured that out), his goals in writing, and how he channels and keeps track of his ideas. This is where King said great ideas don't come from writing them in notebooks, that truly amazing ideas stay in your head and linger until you've written it.

I don't think King's taking into consideration the daily life of a college student, or really anyone who doesn't write full time. I mean, c'mon man, college folks have class, work one or two jobs, homework, clubs and societies, perhaps a social life. Grown ups (big versions of kids) have just as much to do, with the addition of kids (small versions of grown ups). If one of the aforementioned folks comes up with an idea, how can they be expected to remember the idea? Ideas are such fleeting things, you want to capture them before they get away.

You ever hear how poets got ideas and then rushed to their study so they could write it down? My Creative Writing professor told me a story of how a certain poet (can't remember the name) got to her study late (in her fit of inspiration), but still had enough of the poem going through her head that she wrote the piece from last line to first, essentially catching the tail and dragging the poem back. Cool right?

The best ideas are the ones captured the moment they arrive and then sit. I've had fantastic ideas come from notebooks. I have this composition book given to me from a former class mate containing outlines, ideas, scene developments, and metaphorical meanings (for novels). To think I could keep track of all in my head is both erroneous and arrogant. There's just too much in my life (mostly during college time) to remember all that goes through my head creatively.

Ideas are feathers in the wind. You let it pass, you may not catch it again. And sometimes having an idea sit and percolate is the best thing for an idea to grow naturally. Perhaps the idea you originally captured takes a turn as it sits, and becomes something completely different from what you thought it would be. That is when writing gets real fun.

Ever get an idea, or an image, you like but don't know how to approach it? This doesn't mean it's a bad idea, it's just different. Write it down, then forget about it. Go watch a movie, listen to music, watch a live performance of your favorite musician (or attend), discover a new author. Then go back and look at the idea, and you'll get more ideas how to approach the concept.

Writing is a place of doing what you please. There are no rules, no matter what anyone tells you. Everyone has a method to writing (Stephen King included), and while folks will tell you how you should approach writing or how you should live your writing life, but it is up to you to decide how you will do those things. This is a subjective business, and not just writing itself, but the methods involved.

Creativity has no boundaries, it doesn't care who participates as long as the vessel writing is listening to its ideas. You, the writer, has to figure out what works for you and remember your method is unique. It is you, and no one can change it no matter what. Not some guy who's been in the business for forty years, or some cat who's sold fifty books and is considered one of the greatest writers of our time. We want to listen to them because we think if we copy their methods, we will copy their success as well.

Create your own path. Be honest, bold, ambitious, fearless, and write with love.

Can you dig it?

J.G.A.