{"id":1049,"date":"2018-09-17T20:24:20","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T00:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2018-09-17T20:24:20","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T00:24:20","slug":"the-blissful-pen-confessions-of-people-who-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/17\/the-blissful-pen-confessions-of-people-who-write\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blissful Pen: Confessions of People Who Write"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Back in the early 80s I took a college class taught by award-winning writer Robert P. Arthur<\/a>. I remember Bob as a big guy, not just in a physical sense with his tall, broad-shouldered self, but with his overall presence. He filled a room, that man. He expected\u2014and inspired\u2014a lot from his students, and to this day I credit him in no small way with instilling in me the love of creating beauty through my words. $\"\"$ He told us then that writing for money did not make one a true writer. Anyone can do that, he said. A true writer, one that is smitten with the love of prose, doesn\u2019t write because they want to. They write because they must. Their heart gives them no choice.\n

I thought I knew what he meant at the time. I wrote mostly poetry in those days, and couldn\u2019t not put my tumultuous emotions and empathic confusion down on paper. (That was in the Stone Age, when we didn\u2019t have computers on every desk, or iPhones in every hand.) But time and circumstance swept like a storm-tide through my life, drifting between me and my poetry until I stopped writing altogether. For years.<\/p>\n

In 1994, I started a local newsletter for the Earth Religion community in my area. In its 15 or so years in print, the publication grew and spread to national distribution, and expanded its focus to include topics of interest to the larger interfaith community. As publisher and editor, it fell to me to write an editorial for each and every issue (with one hilarious exception when a dear friend filled in on a humor issue). In addition, I myself wrote occasional content on spiritual matters and issues of living in compassion. My writing bug revived, and I began to dream of penning a book on all the insight I\u2019d gained from my work in interfaith outreach. (That book is still simmering on the back burner.)<\/p>\n

A friend encouraged me to write fiction. Pah, I blurted. Fiction? No thank you, I said. I want people to take my writing seriously.<\/p>\n

Yeah. I actually said that.<\/p>\n

Then I actually tried my hand at a \u201cshort story,\u201d and realized the depth of my misjudgment. Seeds of creation in my writer\u2019s heart blossomed into a garden of ideas and images of other worlds, and I\u2019ve never once looked back. Now, after pursuing the improvement of my craft on a serious level (in fiction!), I am more keenly aware of Bob Arthur\u2019s words. They hit much closer to home. And I\u2019m not alone in this. Other writers in my life express similar emotions, so I asked some of them to share their thoughts on why they write.<\/p>\n

Janet Brown<\/a>, author of Entropy: Death, Life, and Everything on the Outside<\/em> and Celebrate Your Inner Dog<\/em>, said \u201cMy imagination comes up with an idea which is equivalent to an embryo; the final book is akin to a child I\u2019ve birthed. Writing gives me satisfaction that something I thought of may have value to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Bounds<\/a>, author of Divine Film Comedies<\/em> and Perry Mason: The Authorship and Reproduction of a Popular Hero<\/em>, is working on his first supernatural crime novel. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of reading some early chapters and I can tell you he\u2019s onto something. Dennis said \u201cUnlike reading\u2014which I love\u2014writing takes me into a story that doesn\u2019t exist until I write it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Award-winning Cathy Coley<\/a> (Felix the Comet<\/em>) says she\u2019s crabby when she\u2019s not writing. For her, \u201ccreativity is a spiritual pursuit. I must write or die. I\u2019d rather be writing than soul dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ For romance novelist Blake Channels<\/a>, author of The Comforts<\/em>, writing is something she never tires of, \u201cwhich is saying a lot, since I tend to lose interest in things rather quickly.\u201d She loves the escape, the release, and the fact that she can still play make-believe even as an adult. She describes the compulsion to write as both a blessing and a curse\u2014a common feeling among writers, I\u2019ve found. A blessing because of the joy it brings when the muse is flowing and the stars align and the words come easily and pack the right punch. A curse because that sort of thing doesn\u2019t happen every day. Most of the time, it\u2019s a struggle to get the words in the right order on the page so as to convey the story and the emotional impact as the writer intended.<\/p>\n

Fellow writer and Pitch Wars hopeful Elaine Panneton said she finds it impossible to be bored when she writes.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Massey<\/a>, author of \u201cThe Martin Culver Series,\u201d writes stories hidden in history through the eyes of his characters. \u201cWriting,\u201d he says, \u201cprovides travel opportunities to places I want to recall (or want to avoid). I can\u2019t quit until everyone has told their part.\u201d<\/p>\n

John McCarthy<\/a> is a teacher at our local writers center, The Muse. He said, \u201cIf I don\u2019t\u2019 write, my characters bitch and moan that I\u2019m ignoring them and don\u2019t love them anymore. Sometimes that\u2019s true, but then I realize I have to keep writing so I can see how it all turns out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Author of Drips<\/em>, Leigh Anne Lagoe<\/a> said, \u201cWriting gives me time alone with my thoughts. An escape from reality. A chance to play pretend; we all used to do that when were kids. Why\u2019d we stop?\u201d When she wants to quit, she reminds herself that then all her hard work was wasted time. Finishing means she\u2019s accomplished something great\u2014whether or not the book sells.<\/p>\n

Kitso Moema<\/a> (Second Chances<\/em>), loves being able to create her own world where she can make the rules and \u201cget rid\u201d of characters who don\u2019t follow them. \u201cI\u2019m always making stuff up,\u201d she says, \u201cso why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

All of these responses struck a chord within me that most likely resonates in other writers as well. But the one that hit home the strongest was K.A. Doore<\/a>\u2019s response. \u201cSometimes I lose sight of why I want this whole \u2018being an author\u2019 thing,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause the anxiety can be [huge]. Then this week a reader $\"\"$ said I emotionally destroyed them [with Pefect Assassin<\/em>] and I remembered. Ah yes. That. That is why.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know exactly how she feels\u2026 maybe on a smaller level, since my novel isn\u2019t yet published. But I\u2019ve shared out short stories and beta versions of my novel, and had readers make similar comments. That\u2019s a feeling like no other, and unless you write or paint or sing or dance or express creativity in some similar way and have had that kind of feedback from someone affected by your work, words cannot convey its fulfillment.<\/p>\n

Being published is something I strive for, true. Because seeing my words in print on the page (or on the screen) feels validating. It also provides the opportunity for my work to affect others as it has affected me. But I will write whether or not I ever publish again. I write because I must. Finishing a story, then tweaking and revising and refining it is a thrill in and of itself. Every word on the page is another step toward that rush of accomplishment. Writers, you know.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a poster on the wall at my gym that says, \u201cWhen you want to quit, remember why you started in the first place.\u201d It\u2019s the same with writing, especially when frustration takes a toll and makes you want to chuck the whole damn idea of writing. I\u2019ve always found it helpful to stop and articulate why I started, and what it is\u2014exactly\u2014that drives me back to the keyboard over and over.<\/p>\n

Next week, I\u2019ll post about self-rejection and that sinister saboteur, the \u201cimposter syndrome.\u201d But for now, talk back, y\u2019all. Why do you write?<\/p>\n

\u201cFountain pen\u201d photo by Aaron Burden<\/a>
\n\u201cFaery\u201d photo by Vinicius Henrique<\/a>
\n\u201cReading Man\u201d photo by Gift Habeshaw<\/a>
\nPhotos courtesy of Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the early 80s I took a college class taught by award-winning writer Robert P. Arthur. I remember Bob as a big guy, not just in a physical sense with his tall, broad-shouldered self, but with his overall presence. He filled a room, that man. He expected\u2014and inspired\u2014a lot from his students, and to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-on-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Faery.jpg?fit=3456%2C5184&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-gV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1125,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/29\/for-love-or-money-fueling-the-creative-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":1049,"position":0},"title":"For Love or Money: Fueling the Creative Fire","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was looking over some writing tips on other people's blogs today when I came across a tip I've seen elsewhere, too: Don't try to write what you think will sell. 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