Thursday, May 26, 2011

What do I want to write?

the Writer magazine offers an article from 2006 for registered users to be read for free. "What do you want to write", is it called.

I want to write EVERYTHING. Or almost everything. I don't want to write manuals or school books.
But I want to write novels, children's books, YA, romance, horror, scifi, fantasy, adventure, magical realism, contemporary novels; I want to write poems and lyrics; I want to write screenplays and plays; I want to write non-fiction about witchcraft, divination, arts and crafts, human rights, spirituality, food and frugal, sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle; I want to write articles, fillers, columns, crossword puzzles and such for magazines - I want to write a magazine from cover to cover :-D; I want to translate books and illustrate books.
Reminds me of DaVinciDilemma.com

Yes, I want it all, and I want it NOW! Instant gratification isn't fast enough!

I got my hands on The Power, and I was amused and somewhat p'd off, because it starts with what I have been saying for over 10 years. If you want it, you are meant to have it. Your dreams are your own, given to you, because you have also been given the best possible qualities to reach those dreams. Not everyone want the same things, unless they have been programmed to want it.

What if I had a weeklong stay at a writer's retreat where I don't need to care about anything but writing... all my needs and obligation are taken care of... all I need to do is get up and write. What would I write?
Not much it seems :-D
Frankly, I am a childless, middle-aged woman living on benefits with a caring and loving husband who is a great cook. All my needs and obligations are practically being taken care of, and still I don't write. I just keep yapping about WANTING to write.

What do you feel strongly about?
What excites you? Motivates you?
How do you spend most of your time?
What events have impacted your life?
What types of reading do you enjoy?
How much time can you devote to your writing?
How steep is your learning curve?
What obstacles do you face? 
What are your writing goals?
Why do you want to write?

Why do I want to write?
Because I envy writers, because I wish I was one of them, because that is what I would be very proud to say I do... and I believe our dreams, wishes, desires are given to us because they belong to us, because we can reach them...
Of course I dream of getting the Nobel literature prize and other prizes, and all that. Which writer doesn't?
Of course I dream about writing The Next Big Thing. Which writer doesn't?
Of course I dream of getting rich, economically independent, having enough money to afford anything I've ever wanted, by writing. Which writer doesn't?
Perhaps I am too material, and that is one of my obstacles. Some writers don't dream about money and fame. They just write, because they have to write. Because they have stories inside them that have to get out. Because some divine intervention has chosen them to be the medium of the words... or something.

2 comments:

Hart Johnson said...

I think it sounds like maybe you are putting too much on the writing right off the bat... expecting it to do too much and it's stopping you up... perfectionism is giving you writerly constipation... just write some stuff without caring if it's good or bad initially... make the habit of writing daily... and THEN worry about WHAT you want to write.

Though you also may be suffering the 'too much freedom' thing. I am FAR more productive when I have to cram things into the nooks and crannies of my schedule as I know that is the ONLY time I have to do it. If I have TIME, then there is time to fool around, too... (inevitably this takes MORE time than obligations could...)

You can do it!

Ketutar said...

I think you're right about that.

But what does "putting something on something off the bat" mean? I'm Finnish, you remember, so if you are mixing idioms, I can't follow...