Tag Archives: writing process

Writing and The Mighty Mo

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To write, you need momentum, you need to keep moving ahead, anything to avoid sitting like a lump, clicking from one stupid thing to another. Writing and The Mighty MoI promise that I will stop after the next image. Writing and The Mighty MoJust one more website. Writing and The Mighty MoOne more. Writing and The Mighty MoBut I keep doing it…like a child. Writing and The Mighty MoAbsolutely nothing in my head. Writing and The Mighty MoUntil finally I decide to blog on that very thing, my inertia. And do it. Writing and The Mighty MoAnd then get back to actually writing again, a character suddenly stepping in.

I stay focused, and then…lose my step, damn it, and think of what I might be missing. And open the browser again.Writing and The Mighty MoThat’s a cute fucking dog. Can’t deny that.

Henry Miller: Our Shell-Shocked Souls

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A new world is being born, a new type of man is in the bud. The great mass of men, destined now to suffer more cruelly perhaps than man has ever suffered before, have become paralyzed with fear, have withdrawn into their own shell-shocked souls. Nassau2We neither hear, see nor feel, except in relation to the daily needs of the body. The body, which was once a temple, has become a living tomb.

Monster, robot, slave, accursed one – it makes little difference which term one uses to convey the picture of our dehumanized condition. Never was mankind as a whole in a more ignoble condition than ours. 20150925_001433We are all bound to one another in a disgraceful master-slave relationship; we are all caught in the same vicious circle of judge and be judged; we aim to destroy one another if we cannot have our way. 20160806_224416Instead of respect, toleration, kindness and consideration, to say nothing of love, we view one another with fear, suspicion and rivalry.*

(From Henry Miller’s On Writing)

How to Write: The Essential Thing

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The mantra for wanna-be writers is always the same: write every day. every dayJames Bond creator Ian Fleming is said to have written every morning, after which he headed off to the beach followed by an evening of cocktails. Writing_Secrets_From_Ian_FlemingI tried that once. Didn’t work out so well. IMAG2436How-to-author James Altucher offered this: “If you can average 1,000 words a day, seven days a week, you can write four to eight books a year.” 20150314_172514Uh…what?

Mystery writer Raymond Chandler said that he sat down at his desk each and every day just to concentrate. chandlerFor me, the key to writing is not bullshitting yourself. It doesn’t matter what you tell everyone else. It’s only you that matters. You spend all day, from the moment you wake, and into your dreams, always in your head. IMG_0610You need to focus. You need to research. You need characters and action. You need to do all of that. You don’t need bullshit. Just do the work. And never let yourself off the hook.Screenshot (95)Okay, maybe once in a while.

Death and You and Me

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What was it you said about me? I remember that. I’m not that smart. I’m not. But I’m not that stupid. And I don’t forget.Cape Breton 035We weren’t a loving family. We did what we were supposed to do. We’re not like that anymore. I try to care, as complicated (selfish) as I know I am. I want to do what is right.20160205_132939I want to understand. And yet not like that. Not in the deep dark waters. Not in the room of death. How are you? How am I? I am dying. I know that. I accept that. DSCN0317As much as I accept anything else. As much as I accept this li(f)e.

 

This Too Will Be Gone: Forgetting.

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This moment matters. This moment right now. I am writing. You are reading. This is it. This Too Will Be Gone: Forgetting.Maybe more than that. Moments of truth. Never forget. This Too Will Be Gone: Forgetting.And yet we do just that. A constant. This Too Will Be Gone: Forgetting.People are killed. Wars are wages. On to the next thing. This Too Will Be Gone: Forgetting.So right. And then it’s the next thing – what is it now?This Too Will Be GoneNone of us will remember what it was were not supposed to forget.

Ice Friday: Par Lagerkvist’s “The Dwarf”

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It’s not so much the story in Par Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf as how he develops the dwarf’s perspective, that, as a dwarf, there is no way to be disguised, especially to oneself.

I live only my dwarf life. I never go around tall and smooth-featured. I am myself, always the same. I live one life alone. IMAG2772I have no other being inside me. And I recognize everything within me, nothing ever comes up from my inner depths. Nothing is there shrouded in mystery.

Ice Sunday: Haruki Murakami on Writing

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Haruki Murakami writes extensively on the writing process in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, reflecting on the purpose of one’s work:

In the novelist’s profession, there’s no such thing as winning and losing. Maybe numbers of copies sold, awards won, and critics’ praise serve as outstanding standards for accomplishment in literature, but none of them really matter. Ice Sunday: Haruki Murakami on WritingWhat’s crucial is whether your writing attains the standards you’ve set for yourself. Failure to reach the bar is not something you can easily explain away. When it comes to other people, you can always come up with a reasonable explanation, but you can’t fool yourself.