Here’s a quote I like, from Charles Bukowski–a writer who said that writers are “desperate people”:
“Somebody…asked me: ‘What do you do? How do you write, create?’ You don’t, I told them. You don’t try. That’s very important: ‘not’ to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It’s like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out of it.”
I just love that. It’s true–if you aren’t inspired, writing means nothing. Nothing more than clicks on a keyboard…
Happy weekend, fellow writers. Hope you like the looks of your writing this week!
January 30th, 2013 at 7:50 pm
Hmmm. I have to disagree. It’s a nice thought, but writing seldom comes from inspiration. 9 times out of 10 it comes from doggedly hunting down that idea in the wilderness of your mind, shooting it, and dragging it home heels first. If I waited for inspiration to strike, I’d hardly ever write anything at all. Determination is what gets the word count going, for me at least, and that’s what makes it a challenge. I don’t necessarily like writing that way, but as Thomas Mann said, “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” I find that to be infinitely true.
January 31st, 2013 at 5:12 am
Well, you are right…most of us don’t have the luxury of waiting for a good inspiration. I thought maybe what he meant was not to rush into publishing if you are not sure about your writing.
There’s definitely good things to be said about really working at your craft, and sometimes we have to do that on faith that inspiration will hit while we are working!
I like your Thomas Mann quote very much!