Whatcha Got?
In Diary of a Blues Goddess, Georgia has her heart broken. Her best friends, a motley assortment of a drag queen, an Irish blues bassist, her guitarist, and her drummer, assemble in the kitchen of her grandmother's house in New Orleans. Her grandmother, nearly 90, makes them hot toddies. Then the drag queen, Dominique says something along the lines to Nan, "You've lived a long time, what do you have to say to Georgia? What advice?" And Nan tells about her own heartbreaks and widowhood, and losing her daughter to breast cancer and having to raise her only grandchild. And she says that the sum total of what she's learned, is "If the good Lord takes you to it, he'll take you through it." To which Dominique shrieks, "That . . . That's the best you've got?"
In life, I have pretty much learned that what I know about it can be summed up something along those lines. My friends in real life know most of the time, no matter what sort of heartbreak or pain I have, I say, "It is what it is." I don't wish for what I cannot have. I try to live without regret. I have learned that life is full of joy and full of extraordinary pain, and the more you love people, likely, the more pain you have. So really, would you have it any other way?
And that's the best I got.
But I thought about writing. The publishing industry. The ups and downs of careers. Of writer's block. Heck, of commas. And so today . . . you gotta show what you got. What is it? One pithy sentence that's the best you got. Advice. Truism. Whatever. About writing. And . . . here's the catch, gang.
It can't be a quote from a famous writer.
Like Nan's "he'll take you through it," you gotta earn this one.
And to make it interesting . . . anyone who posts their truism today, Demon Baby will select two names at random for a copy of one of my books from my backlist. So let me have it. The best you got.
Mine is being a writer isn't something you become. It's something you are.
Now go.
45 comments:
Okay, best writing advice I have, which is also the best writing advice I ever got, which I got from a former agent, who got it from another writer, who probably didn't make it up either.
Write less, think more.
Mark:
That's actually almost a comment about Abe Lincoln from his former law partner (not quite that . . . but close). He read less and thought more than any man . . . he was a very active reader in terms of really thinking. The same could be true for those of us who write.
E
How about a quote from a sneaker company? It's kind of my motto for everything - especially writing.
JUST DO IT.
Amy:
Allowed. It's my game, so sure.
Just do it!
E
Travis Holland: “A novel is a conversation with someone, you’re speaking into the silence.”
He isn't famous! He only just wrote his first book. I liked that quote so much I rushed to buy his book but never finished reading it.
Jon Kukla: "The proper place for an outline is on a cocktail napkin."
Tiffany Trent: "with a beverage."
Brooks Smith: "Do plumber’s suffer from plumber’s block?"
None of these writers is famous. I don't outline though I've tried and I do know where I want my novel to end. So I liked these quotes.
Cheryl Pallant: "Because we use words every day there's a curtain of complacency about them and we forget that they are art."
She was referring to poetry but I often think when I'm reading a raw manuscript that the writer needs to tune into the idea that writing should take communication up a level to more than just words and vague ideas. A writer should evoke in the reader the feeling being transformed just any other art form does.
Richmond:
Good ones!!! I love the cocktail napkin one a lot. My feelings exactly.
E
Don't be scared.
For years I was scared I'd be wasting my time writing. And then when I did start I filtered every word i wrote for fear of how it would be taken or that I was revealing too much. I'm now thinking that only by revealing too much can you really draw a reader in.
Kathleen Toler: "If you miss a deadline you don't have one anymore."
Hugh Gouldthorpe: "The mind needs WD40."
Mark Terry: "You're asking someone to pay for your daydreams." I couldn't find the quote so I'm going from memory here. oh wait, is Mark famous?
Did you know I had so many saved up? I'll quit now and work on my own writing.
A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about the Lake Wobegon Effect after reading a Nathan Bransford blog post, and I came up with this:
If you think you're above average, the you haven't set the bar high enough.
In other words, stay humble but reach for the stars.
Well, I have a tendency to repeat lectures to my students ad nauseum. I call it programming; they call it "not again." I grab my little ones' hands and repeat it at the end of nearly every lesson, LOL. And it's not one sentence or pithy, but:
"You are amazing. God only made one of you, only one person like you in the whole world. He needs you. Only one person in the whole world can say what you have to say. The world needs you. Work really hard this week, so your unique specialness can shine. It's your sacred duty."
PS: Diary of a Blues Goddess is my very favorite. :-)
Travis:
You earned that one. That is SOOOOOO true.
E
Richmond:
I think it is so awesome you save these up!!!
E
Jude:
True. I like that.
E
Spy:
I cried. How lucky that you say that. If you read the very last exchange in the comments of the "Clarity" post on my Demon Baby blog, know this. . . . you might be the ONLY adult who ever tells those kids that. I just love you for that!!!!
E
Ummmm....
Okay, what I said. (Thanks Richmond) :)
Don't leave your manuscript out in the rain.
---Snoopy
Stephen:
From a wise elder statesman. :-)
E
I love what Spy says!
Allison Brennan is a bestselling writer, but she was my friend before she sold and I don't know if she counts as famous. I had other quotes, but this is what I'm doing with my wip.
Allison Brennan: "Dig until you hit rock. Then take out that jackhammer and go a little deeper."
Edie:
Like that one, too!!!! I am hoping I am at a jackhammer stage with one of mine.
E
What a great conversation, Erica. I happen to like "It is what it is" and say it often.
My advice isn't pithy... and it probably reflects where I am in the process more than my feelings on writing in general - ask again next year and it's liable to be something different.
Write your prose with a poetic heart... breathe life into every drop of rain and brush of a cheek... wax philosophical in foreshadowing and completely draw out every nuance of shadow and light - and then throw all that crap out and write a little honest - not to impress anyone, but for the story, which is impressive enough without the ostentatious wrapping.
(Sky, I love you!!!! That is the best thing I've ever heard and your students will remember it.)
Clothing designers say:
"If you can draw it, you can sew it."
It suits my artistic sensibility to think of those drawings as ideas.
This is a quote that I use for my students each semester:
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."
I remind them that it is never too late to learn but the learning may be harder than before and it may take more effort than before but success is all the more sweeter for it.
Don't get stuck in the paralysis of analysis. Sometimes you just have to retch an idea onto the page, rough hewn and dripping, and scrape away the excess later.
Merry:
I am with you on that. Like minds and all that.
;-)
E
Ello:
Holy crap but that's good!!!!!!!!!
WOW!
E
Sex Scenes:
They haven't seen me with a needle and thread.
E
B. Nagel . . .
All right. I am stealing the idea of retching it on paper. Love it. Of course, last night Demon Baby puked all over his brother's pillow, so . . . you know, maybe that's just where my mind is at today.
E
I take my writing advice from Richard Simmons. :)
He always said, "Never, never, never give up."
Okay so maybe he isn't talking about writing but its what keeps me going.
In life its Vonnegut..."And so it goes..."
Being right isn't as important as being happy.
Aimless:
And so it goes, indeed,
E
anti-wife:
I need to tattoo that on the foreheads of a few people.
E
My 17-year-old sister once said to me:
"Give me a story, not an essay. I get enough homework during the week. I just want something fun."
I write for teens, so this really helped me remember to keep things light. Teenagers have to read so many things that are dry and boring to them already, so it takes a lot for them to pick up something on their own. They want it to be worth their time.
I've said it here before: You can't write if you don't write.
*takes notes*
L.C.:
With the YA crowd, I think entertainment is even MORE important. Most will not fall into a sort of pseudo-intellectual mindset and read a "deep" book because all the women in their bookgroup are reading it or Oprah picked it. They read to escape and be entertained.
E
Joe:
Very Zen.
E
Melanie:
LOL!
yes. . .
E
I just came up with one today, it goes like this: Expanding the mind is what keeps us alive, imo. It proves we aren't brain-dead. ;)
In other words, you never stop learning unless your mind is a steel trap, one that lets in nothing new.
Demon Baby, PICK ME! PICK ME! :)
Kath;
That is actually the point of my blog post tomorrow! ;-)
E
This is from the grandpa on the movie "Little Miss Sunshine", not the exact quote, but;
"Real losers are so afraid of losing that they don't even try".
That, to me, sums up not only writing, but everything in life.
Realm:
LOVE that movie. How did I not write down that quote?!?!?!?!
E
I hope I'm not too late for this. I'll read through the comments after I post.
My pithy saying is: What you nurture, grows.
That goes both ways. If you put your energy into negativity, that's what will bloom.
Thanks for this post. Just what I needed right now!
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