Writing is a funny thing. If I try to write about just anything, it usually doesn't have the verve that I want. That's why I tend to write about those things I am fired up about at any given time. If I am hanging around in the woods, finding tracks and seeing animals, the odds are good that I'll blog about that stuff. If I'm playing songs on the keyboard I may talk about that. Then there are games, books, movies.
Some people call it inspiration, others call it the "Muse", like some Grecian oracle of yesteryear. Sometimes the storyteller just comes over you. True, there has been a time when I saw a mushroom and decided to write a story about it, just to see if I could. The other day I thought of a cool title for a book and decided to write the story afterwards. I even worked up a good book cover for it. I was never able to really get the inspiration for the story. That's okay, though I now have an odd picture in my photo gallery.
There have been times when I thought, "Gee, I want to finish that series so I will make myself start writing the sequel." That usually doesn't go too well. There was a situation where I made about 5 false starts on a novel with each being about different people. Then, about a year later, after I had thrown it in a corner, I just suddenly saw a way to fit all of them together into the sequel I was seeking. It turned out pretty well.
Creative things are odd. I feel the creative urge a lot of times if I get really bored. When I write a lot of blogs, this seems to give an outlet for the creativity and I don't write the books hardly at all. I seem to do one, or the other. I've been blogging a lot lately, but that is fine because I am doing typing and editing on the novels and short stories.
Another time when I feel the creative urge is when I'm under duress from the world, when I have my back against the wall about problems at work, family stuff or whatever. I think that God built into us a hidden fount of creativity that was meant like a mental, emotional adrenaline to show us a way to solve those problems and overcome in a crisis situation. Whereas you might use your gift to invent fire or the wheel at such a stressful time, another person's gift may lend itself to making up a story or a piece of music that might bless people.
Recently, I wanted to write about Centaur so I could finish his series. But what was flowing out of me was all about my western character, Cedric Gant. So, I wrote about Cedric Gant. It flowed about as fast I could write it down, at times.
There was a time when I went several years and didn't write a lick. Another time, on a Saturday when I was here alone, I wrote 100 pages in one day, on composition books, and had severe writer's cramp. I have found that my books tend to read like they were written. That sounds stupid, but what I mean is this: If I was struggling to write them or making myself finish a tough part, then it will be a draggy read. If, on the other hand, the words and ideas were flowing like water, the passage kicks butt. It crackles with energy and I enjoy typing it.
I've heard successful writers say that you should make yourself write each day, or so much each day, or at a certain time each day. True, you have to have a bit of discipline about it or you will be lazy and never write. But it is my belief that you should write the way you are wired to write. Don't use some formula that a guy who is successful tells you to use. It makes me ill to read some pompous windbag's system for sucess. "Hey, you too can be wonderful, like me, if you'll do this. Buy my book for $10 and follow it closely."
Bottom line is, you may be wired a bit differently than anyone else. That's okay. I am aware that my books are not for everyone. I became aware early on that there was a formula for sound business in books. Then I started to write The Dan Tattoo. About a third of the way through the book, I got bored with some of the characters and killed four or five of them off at one fell swoop. It was fun.
My books have a bit of sex in them. I like to write like that. It keeps me from getting bored with them. I am aware that this costs me some sales, but I don't care. This writing business is a brutal amount of work and very few people ever make a living out of it. If you have always dreamed of writing, maybe you should write to please yourself. Now that the ebook revolution has hit, it is the best time in history to write the way you want. After all, there is no Madison Avenue person pestering you about it.
Another thing about writing that I find interesting. Louis L'amour once said that he was not temperamental. That he could sit on Sunset Boulevard and write a western. Well, most of us are not like that. Just now, Carley was doing some chores and making noise. Sometimes it distracts me and sometimes it doesn't. This time, I put a fan in the study and turned it on to drown her out. She had done nothing wrong and I didn't fuss. I'm just saying.
Here at the green retreat, there is little in the way of distractions. There are places more conducive to inspiration than others. If you are constantly into it with your noisy, nosy neighbors, the odds are that this will hinder your creativity. One needs to be in a place where he is bored enough to get into a good 'daydream'. Probably all of us have sat around in our idle time and dreamed about what we'd do if this, or if that. This is what writing is, a really cool daydream that gets so real that you forget who you are or where you are at. Then you start writing it down on paper. The characters are suddenly, or over a period of weeks, becoming just like old, familiar friends. If they die at the end of the book it was something irrevocable, that could not have been written correctly any other way. And you weep over it. Goodbye, old friend, I knew you well. You were born in my mind, you are my imaginary friend, but there is a piece of me inside you and you inside of me. There was a bit of Aunt Jane or my old friend Robbie or whoever, that went into you. Yet there is no one quite like you on earth. Just like no two real people are alike.
I sat and typed this as fast as my fingers could move. There was no struggle. Why? Because I was ready to write this piece and I forced nothing. Not a game review I didn't want to write, nor a review about a movie I hated. I didn't do it for money, after all. I did it because I'm a writer and that is what writers do. They write. Don't enslave yourself. Do what you want, even if you have to work a regular job, like me, savvy?
From the authors green retreat. It is a place where I am at peace. Good day to you.
I'm CE Wills.
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