Tag: writing

The Joys of Text

“Writing is really very easy. Tap a vein and bleed onto the page. Everything else is just technical.”
Derrick Jensen

     

Well, not quite, but it still takes discipline and hard work to pen something easy to read.

agatha-christie-quotesThe first thing about writing is coming up with a decent subject. And it is not as easy as you might think because you do not want to offend anybody unnecessarily.

My writing is often a gut reaction to what I have witnessed or what I have read. I don’t claim to be right. As a matter of fact, I am partial and I don’t ask anybody to agree with me.
I am just voicing what I feel.
I am not a journalist but rather a topical blogger, and I am often politically incorrect because I don’t care for unrealistic bleeding-heart do-gooders.

Once I tackle a subject, I often find inspiration in famous quotes.
Witty sayings make me smile and inspire me.

“Everytime I hear Wagner I feel like invading Poland.” Woody Allen

To me, writing is not an orderly process. I don’t start at the top of the page and keep on writing until reaching the bottom margin.
I first jot random thoughts on a blank page and organize them later.
I rearrange a sentence many times, and word-processing is extremely helpful.
What would I do without “cut and paste”?

I really don’t know how Alexandre Dumas could write novels in longhand and edit them later. I understand that he used a ghostwriter to do the dirty work, but still.
Personally I don’t use one, I am my own (poorly paid) “nègre blanc”.

When in the trance of the creative process, even in your sleep you keep thinking about what you are writing.
It is not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and shuffle to my (always awake) computer to jot down what came over me during my half-conscious state.

I usually write a rough draft in the morning and let it marinate overnight.
The next day I look at it again and edit it extensively.
I then let my concoction incubate for about 3 days (with multiple CPR sessions) before publishing it.

My writing style is often tongue-in-cheek, something written humorously that should not be taken at face value. But there is always some truth behind the humor.

And finally, “the art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe” and writing often allows me to clarify my own disjointed inner thoughts.

Alain

 I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. Steven Wright

The joy of writing

In spite of what your parents or professors told you, anybody can be a writer.
And you don’t need a college degree to indulge your passion.
Because writing is a passion, a drug, an urge that must be satisfied.
This labor of love might never come to fruition, but this is beside the point. You write for the sheer pleasure of camping words on a canvas, just like positioning little lead soldiers on an imaginary battlefield.

In writing, or in any artistic endeavor for that matter, there are no rules.
Rules went out the window a long time ago, even before Picasso started his lucrative scam.
On the high seas of literature, a writer is a filibuster who flies his own flag and doesn’t owe allegiance to anyone.
He can tackle any subject, but above all his stories have to be captivating.
And a touch of humor is never out of place because humor is to writing what spice is to cooking

While everybody can write, few scribblers will ever see fame and fortune. But this should not stop anybody from indulging his or her passion.

The cardinal sin of a writer is to stray from the core of his story and bore readers with unnecessary drivel.

ZolaI am presently going through a book by Emile Zola called “Au Bonheur des Dames” (The ladies’ Delight) and I find it occasionally boring; I have no qualms then about skipping a few paragraphs.

In “Au Bonheur” the author tells the story of Octave Mouret, a maverick department store owner whose audacity and business acumen stuns and eventually ruins his old-fashioned competitors.

The novel is 442 pages long and Zola devotes entire chapters to describing the layout of the store, the type of merchandise they are selling, the colors of the garments…
Who care? Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn about silk or Kurdistan rugs!

Most readers don’t care much about descriptive prose; they want to be told a story devoid of “fillers”. They don’t care if a woman’s skirt is red or yellow; what matters is what she thinks, how she feels and what she will do.

In “Le Bonheur” our main concern is Denise Baudu.
The poor thing is desperately poor, lives in a garret, doesn’t have any decent clothes, is starving and has to take care of two brothers.
Could it be any more pathetic? We naturally root for her and want to know how she will get out of the gutter.
But Zola persists in describing the innovations of the store and the avant-garde sales techniques of its employees.
To this I say: rubbish!

He also talks about the miserable working conditions of the employees and this is relevant because it is a reflection of the mores of that time.
But misery is like dessert; it is only palatable in small doses. In large quantity it sickens you.
And unfortunately, Emile pours it on. For about three hundred pages Denise goes through hell to eke a living and survive.

I don’t pretend to be a Zola, but I could probably produce a more succinct and more stimulating version of this story. Hello Hollywood, are you listening?
And you won’t hear me talking about the thousands of items sold in the store.

I would probably spice up the story with a little sex and all these forbidden pleasures that god-fearing citizens secretly love to hear about.

But all in all, Zola was a decent, talented guy, concerned with the miserable working conditions of the proletariat, and above all for having the courage to take on the military establishment and write his famous “J’accuse” pamphlet.

Emile, you are a little verbose but I am still one of your admirers, and spurred by your intellect I will persevere in writing my humble little stories (with fewer words).
What else could a retired guy do for kicks?

Alain

Writing addiction

An addict is an enthusiastic devotee of a specific activity.
It is a person who will feel distressed if he/she cannot indulge regularly in some kind of guilty pleasure.

My own pleasure is writing, putting on paper what is prancing in my mind. This affliction was dormant for many years, but it resurfaced recently with a vengeance. I now need my daily fix of creative adrenaline.
If I am prevented from writing, I can become anxious and irrational. Just like a chocoholic deprived of his daily morsel of chocolate.

Some addictions are hazardous, but some can also be therapeutic.
I find my own obsession stimulating.
It compels me to deal with a variety of subjects and articulate opinions that some can find uncomfortable and prefer to avoid.

Writing is a mental gymnastic similar to running imaginary laps.
It can be tiring, but just like any physical activity, it helps relieving stress and has been known to induce a mild euphoria.

I like to write in English but also in French, my mother tongue.

I have come to believe that my brain is divided in two distinct hemispheres: the French occupied zone and the American one.
They are often conflicted and separated by barbed wires. You can get from one zone to the other through checkpoint Charlie.

When you start writing about a particular subject, it is imperative to quickly corral as many galloping thoughts as possible. So I usually jot down everything that goes through my mind without any particular order. Later on, I will discard many of these ideas.
Sometimes I also wake up in the middle of the night and hurry to my computer to write down a sentence or an idea that popped up in my brain during my slumber.

The first draft of any piece is always disorganized and chaotic.
You need to read, re-read and modify many sentences before it feels right.
Writing is a little bit like kneading dough! It is sensual and tiring at the same time; the material at hand needs to be pummeled more than once for the right consistency.

After the first kneading it is best to go to sleep and give the dough a rest.
In the morning it will be massaged again for good measure.

After the final draft is completed, comes the polishing.
Like a goldsmith I go over every sentence a few more times to give it some extra shine.

And finally, to make my little piece more palatable I try to sprinkle it with a dash of humor.

For some, this might sound like a lot of work, but for the divinely obsessed, it is a pleasurable labor of love.

Try it sometimes, you will like it!

Alain