How A Writer Writes

John, Paul George and Ringo are standing on a rooftop singing about man named Jo Jo and images are flying through my head at light speed.

There are stories to be heard, stories to be seen and stories to be shared with others.

So I flip open the stats on the blog and click on some of the links people have been reading and grab a few excerpts from the older stuff and ask myself if it is time to read, remember and review.

Are the characters calling out to me because they demand to see sunshine or is it just random chance that has me reading their words again?

Truth is I don’t spend much time thinking about why or how, I just answer the Muse and start working on what I have in front of me.

Don’t mistake that to mean that I only write when the Muse is pushing me because a real writer doesn’t make excuses for when they can or cannot write.

They pump out the content and push to write regardless of whether they feel like it or not because sometimes the words flow freely and sometimes you have to work at it.

Either way it doesn’t matter because you either find a way to make it happen or make excuses.

So I grab these old clips, dust them off and ask whether I should leave them on the shelf or do something more.

I don’t allow myself to be constrained by purely linear thinking. I don’t live based upon what can’t happen, but upon what can and what could be. I am not Don Quixote attacking windmills, but if I did it is a certainty that the windmill would fall.- Instant Messenger

Most of the time there is music playing but there is no one song, band or type singing in my ear. Sometimes it is a soft serenade and sometimes it is an angry howl.

I never know what it will be or how I will get to whatever end is coming. It is an adventure.

Later on you would find yourself lying bloodied and bruised upon the forest floor. There was no sign of the wolves and you had no memory of what had happened to them. So you picked yourself up and wandered back towards the castle. Anxious to see June you maintained a quick pace and it wasn’t long before you arrived.

Only this time the castle gates were not open, nor did trumpets blare to herald your return. Instead you were met by silence. The castle was empty. June was gone and there wasn’t any sort of note to indicate where, when or why. - Take A Walk On The Wild Side

Writers Are Explorers & Inventors

A thousand years ago when I was a wee lad in and learning things in a place called a university I stood in a bar drinking a beer watching the people around me.

One of the fellows in there pointed at me and sneered, “there is the guy who writes that stupid crap in the paper.”

I invited him to come closer and asked him if he required more liquid courage to insult me.

He was happy to oblige and for a few minutes the two of us went back and forth about whether a writer had a bigger and better future than a business major.

There were of course others in the bar, but the only ones I paid attention to were the two girls standing just to the side of us, especially the girl from my biology class who I had never spoken to.

Had always wanted to, but never found anything clever to say and so I hadn’t.

The future businessman told me one day I would be working for him or something along those lines and then I laughed and said it would never happen.

“Writers are inventors and explorers and you’re a dumb asshole who punches holes in your Scantron because you don’t understand you are supposed to fill in the blank.”

Some like to point out that he threw the first punch but I like to focus on what is more important, I threw the last.

Stereotypes of writers being pencil neck geeks who wear glasses and are afraid to fight aren’t always accurate.

I did wear glasses but I also spent two hours a day in the gym, every day and I never had a problem standing up for myself.

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I’ll let you decide how much of that is truth or fiction and move on to the next point or place to address.

The goal for me is never to paint a picture that is so detailed the reader doesn’t have room to fill in the blanks.

I want them to.

I want you to.

Your imagination will color the spots and spaces and help ensure my words resonate with you. My job is to provide the foundation and structure not to complete it all.

Adding Depth & Texture

Billy Joel is singing And So It Goes and I am staring out the window of my bedroom wondering what the next view will look like.

The landlord has said he needs his place back so it won’t be long before we head out for greener pastures.

It is something I have wanted to do for a while but I had planned on having some time to work it out. Had planned on working hard to find the right place and not just a place but sometimes this is how it goes.

The neat thing about it is this is the sort of experience a man can use to add depth and texture to his writing.

That is something I think about quite often.

I’d go on but sometimes less is more.