Books On Writing

I'm of two minds when it comes to writing books: I love them but they kind of keep me from writing. Weird, eh?

I've read William Zinsser, Strunk & White, Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, Ken Macrorie, Peter Elbow, Stephen King, Natalie Goldberg, Austin Kleon, and more.

I went to college to learn how to be a writing teacher, taking a bunch of English classes mostly about how to read. Then I did graduate school in English which almost killed my ability and desire to write. Crazy how that works.

Now, looking to move on from public school teaching toward being more of a writer, it felt time to read Welcome To The Writer's Life and it was. Paulette Perhach has give me more to think about concerning the career of writing than I expected from the book. Her advice is good, practical, and well written. I even did many of the exercises in the book (I usually skip over such things) and at least one of them felt not just useful but transformational. If you're looking to become a writer, one who makes at least some of a living through writing words, then read it.

All that said, I'm glad to be done with it. The only thing that stops me from writing more than depression is a book about writing (or, God help me, graduate school). I get many of my ideas and motivation from the things I read — memoirs and essays especially — but when I read a book on writing, I go too slowly and can't focus on anything else. The book makes my head spin and hurt a little because I think of what I might be doing, what I should be doing, what I haven't done yet. All that thinking crowds out most of what leads me to writing. I should be able to control it, but I haven't mastered that yet. I can read a book like this once in a while but then need to go in other directions so I can return to writing.

The tough thing is there's another book about writing on my shelf: Jane Friedman's The Business Of Being A Writer. It will have to wait. I've got Dani Shapiro's Devotion in the batter's box and the umpire is motioning the pitcher to go ahead and throw. Then there's Jaron Lanier's Dawn Of The New Everything, Morris Gleitzman's Now, Philip Glass's Words Without Music: A Memoir, and — well you get the idea.

I'd ask is there anything than reading?, but I know the answer. The race is pretty damn close, but writing, man, that's everything.

Crisis & Opportunity

"It seems to me that we awaken more profoundly out of hard times than out of the calm times in our life. Crisis and opportunity are indeed one and the same. When we are faced with a setback or difficulty, we always have the opportunity to either label whatever is happening "difficult," "failure," or "crisis"—or not to label it at all and instead see it as "just this." This view of reality, without labels, allows for all kinds of possibilities to arise if we could only trust the moment. Developing such trust is the work of Zen."

—Janet Jiryu Abels, Making Zen Your Own
qtd in Daily Doses Of Wisdom, 153

There's a note in my writing nook just above the desk asking What opportunity is inside of this failure or disaster? It's a better way of thinking than my usual I'm totally screwed and there is no way out of this crisis. Yeah, just a little better.

I did an exercise from Paulette Perhach's book Welcome To The Writer's Life (which is good so far). As directed, I wrote a page (and a half) finishing the line, "I want to be a writer because..." It helped me feel hopeful in ways I haven't much felt lately given how hopeless my job feels. (I'm not alone in this. Here are John Zeleznik's excellent takes on hope and hopelessness.) Here's some of what I wrote in response to Perhach's prompt:

This morning I woke, tidied the kitchen, made coffee, and came down to the nook to write. A perfect start to my day. The planner is open on the desk to catch ideas and get things off my mind and out of the way. A candle burns to mark time and remind me that I'm on a long journey but that this moment is bright and hot enough to burn. I have three pages I get to fill as I please. Today is a national holiday so I don't have to teach school. There's no reason to hurry. I can write all day.

I want to be a writer because I have things to say and want to serve others. My teaching no longer feels like good service and I go largely unheard. I want new audiences and to live a life of my choosing even if that life proves difficult.

I want to be a writer because I'm intrigued and challenged by writing every time I commit thoughts to paper or screen. Drafting, revising, editing, all of it invigorates and excites me. I even love to refill my fountain pen. I just can't get enough.

I want to be a writer because I'm a better person to my family, friends, community, and myself when writing. I'm healthier and more alive making words and sentences into new ideas than doing anything else.

I want to be a writer because I don't ever run from writing. I can be distracted from it by my job and by depression (two things that go hand in hand) but I return without complaint and with desire that becomes energy. Writing doesn't depress me or sap my strength. At its worst, writing still lifts me.

I want to be a writer because I want to be a writer, because I want to be writing, because for as long as I can remember I have wanted to be writing. If anything the desire to write intensifies day by day. It got stronger when I first drafted these words. It has gotten stronger as I have revised them.

I want to be a writer because I am a writer.

Thank you, Paulette Perhach

"Why You Should Be A Writer"

I'll have more to say about this book as I read the rest of it, but for now I want to share this section which gave me hope and might give some to you as well. I wish I wrote this, but I also found that in typing it I would have said it differently and I like that feeling. It's almost as if I know what I'm doing.

You should buy this book.

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Why You Should Be A Writer

by Paulette Perhach
from Welcome To The Writer's Life (14-16)

People who are not writers will happily provide you a million reasons why you should also not be a writer. Here's why, in my humble opinion, you should be a writer.

Because writing is art, and practicing an art enriches your life. You know that feeling after writing, that inner contented sigh, as if you just got out of the hot tub? It's real. Studies have shown that writing expressively puts you in a better mood, lowers your stress, and improves depressive symptoms. Art bedazzles the dark soul and makes life shinier.

You love words. If you love to write, good news: writers get to write all the time. If you love to read, great news: sitting on the couch, reading a book, now counts as work. Being a writer means you get to fill your life with words.

A community of writers awaits. One day you will find yourself in a room full of people who are either writers or enthusiastic readers. The first time I went to a writer's conference, it felt like a home I never knew I had. You won't have to go this road alone, not entirely.

Writing is a valuable skill. OK, so maybe if you've shopped around your sonnets, you realize not all forms of writing have a high dollar value on the market. However, the better you get at creative writing, the more you'll build up the marketable skill called "communications." The business magazine Fast Company even published an article called "Why Good Writing Is Essential For Business." You, the worker, with the succinct emails, typo-free presentations, and engaging content (puke), will be a more valuable asset to companies, if and when you need to be.

Your creative work will get better. If you read a lot and write a lot, the writing you produce will improve. It might take longer than you want it to, but practice does make progress. Sometimes I find old writing and think, Oh no, did I write this? Why did I ever think this was good? Why did I email it to a dozen of my friends? But being embarrassed of my old work just means I'm better now than I was then. The bad work makes the better work possible.

People will thank you for it. This part is weird. When I started out, I thought maybe one day someone would take pity on me and do me the favor of reading my writing. I didn't anticipate the feeling of someone thanking me for doing the thing I love doing anyway. One day, you might realize that everything you learned, all the work you did, and all the words you wrote led to this — someone who feels grateful your work exists, because it gave them something. Soulgasms.

You'll figure the money out. You just will. Thousands of writers before you have. You will write in your free time, while the average American finds five hours a day to watch TV. Maybe one day you'll make money at it, or maybe you won't. You can plan for both scenarios and still be a prolific writer. To start working toward being a writer, you don't have to quit your day job. In fact, please do not. I don't have a spare bedroom.

It's a good life. The most common regret people have at the end of their lives, according to hospice nurse Bronnie Ware, is that they didn't live lives true to themselves and what they wanted but instead lived the lives other people wanted for them. Nobody thinks they'll be that person with those regrets at the end of life, but Ware saw it over and over.

Do what you really want to do, and go for it as a writer. Even before I was making any money or anyone cared that I was writing, my writing life made me happy: those times I thought of a word that made me snort, those readings where I made a crowd inhale in unison, the books that compelled me to read a line out loud to the nearest person, known to me or not. Of course, it has its frustrations, like any lifestyle. I still have problems, but they're writer problems.