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I was thrilled when I found my writing schedule is the same
as Stephen King's. If you ask some of WRW's current board
and chairpersons, I was not the only one.
In his latest non-fiction tome, ON WRITING, Steve (I feel
I can call him that given I have read everything he's written)
says he likes to write ten pages a day (2,000 words). He has
good days and hard days. He eats lunch at his desk. And, no
matter what, he gets ten pages written a day. One word at
a time. Ten pages a day. Whether you like him or not, he tells
stories, because he needs to, because he is a writer. La di
da. So are you, so am I.
OK, OK, so now you're saying to yourself, "I work at another
job nine-to-five", "I have three kids who have more sporting
events every week than the 2000 Sydney Olympics", or quite
simply, "I don't always feel inspired." Or you could be saying,
"Beth, you're out of your mind, and I want to take my vote
back."
Before you impeach me, give a fine film, "Finding Forrester",
a look. It is the story of a young African-American man, Jamal
Wallace, with a world of literary promise and a humble, but
loving, home. He meets, Forrester, a cantakerous award-winning
author of one great book (ala Harper Lee). Forrester "critiques"
Jamal's work harshly. The phrase "constipated thinking" comes
to mind--I really wish I could use that with my critique partners,
but they write too dang good. Jamal continues to write his
head off despite living where handguns instead of Bic pens
are more of a reality, and the constant thumping on his bedroom
walls can only mean the neighbors are having a good time.
I won't expose the plot of the film, but I use the characters
in it as a prime example of the need to write inherent in
all of us. Why else would we be here?
If you need more convincing, I beg you to tread lightly
into the mad world of the Marquis de Sade (You're saying to
yourself, "Now I really want to take my vote back.") and the
extrodinary, yet disturbing film "Quills". This man, played
expertly by Geoffrey Rush, was plagued with the need to write.
It kept him from taking a leap into the dark chasm of total
insanity, it was his freedom, his panacea. When the proper
implements for writing his scandalous 19th century novels
were taken from him, he found ingeniuous and warped ways to
write his stories. I'm not saying follow that example literally,
but the need to write is shown in its extreme.
That great twentieth century philospher and social commentator,
George Carlin said, before his seven words that shocked my
mother after she heard what record I had brought home in 1976,
was that "wanna" gets us into trouble. I demure. "Wanna" is
a good thing for those of us who wish to express ourselves
with the written word. We should embrace "wanna" and treasure
it. "Wanna" gets us sitting at our computer, legal pad, quill
and parchment (for those of you who write historicals), and
"wanna" makes us who we are, writers.
As Washington Romance Writers enters its eighteenth year,
make this your year. This can apply to everyone. We
have to start that new novel somewhere. Not all of us start
at the beginning. Jennifer Crusie once said at The Smithsonian,
"I write all of the good parts and put them together. That's
all I write: the good parts." Find your good parts (that didn't
come out too well, but you know what I mean), find your inspiration,
find your time to embrace your "wanna". I know that many of
our authors from the most professionally successful to those
vying for that First Sale pin take their "wanna" by the hand
and don't look over their shoulder, just move forward. Sometimes
you write in Neil Armstrong giant leaps or Sagan's CONTACT
"small moves". "Wanna" will be satisfied. And in the end,
you will be too when your recieve your RWA Pro pin, your First
Sale pin, your Rita, your Pulitzer. That's my plan, anyway,
and I'm sticking to it.
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