Being a Writer

I just sat down on my floor and coffee table to get some work done and instead decided to write a post.  It’s a long the same lines of my last one, but more about how it feels as a writer. Or at least delves into the thought process of what it feels like to be an active writer.

 

You see, as a writer we have, at least in our own minds, this great epic story to tell. There is nothing more important than this story. Whether it is actually the greatest thing since Harry Potter or will define an entire genre like Lord of the Rings is probably unlikely. But that doesn’t matter to the writer. In the writer’s head it is and it will be as conversational as Star Wars when it’s all said and done. I mean how could it not be right?

 

This train of thought leads writing to become an obsession. You have this brilliant idea that you need to share with the world. Every minute you’re wasting not putting pen to paper is depriving the world of this great story. You have to get it out. And as you work on it, edit it, fix this, add that, delete the part about the goose triumphant-ing over a dragon, reread it, hate it, throw it away, start over, hate that, pull the old version out of the trash and re–edit it; you love it more and more.  Each step makes it more and more brilliant. 

 

Sure, during the entire process you have doubts and stress out. There are plenty of moments where you feel like your beating a dead horse or that you have absolutely no talent. You take in the ridicule of 5 critiques that say your favorite part sucks and gain the tiniest pat on the back that at least your character  has a cool name, or that one sentence is brilliant.In short, the process sucks, but you endure this.  You endure it because you have this inner voice that tells you, your idea is brilliant and that you’re going to see it through to the end no matter what. 

 

I guess you could say writers are stubborn. That they don’t know better. They must be stupid to continue working on something night and day after constantly being told it’s garbage and having boatloads full of truck loads of  people say they want to read it but don’t- clearly that must say that it’s not even good enough to read past the first few pages. Even the writer spends nights thinking it would be unfair to the trash can to throw such a foul piece of junk into it. 

 

This all might be true. We writers may be dumb, stubborn, obsessive, self-loathing, and a bit insane. But I’m ok with that. Because the joy you get as a writer is beyond describable. When you sit down and work on your world, you get swept away to s perfect place. A story that you love above any other. It becomes your favorite piece of fiction, and whether or not everyone recognize’s your Bat Signal doesn’t matter. You love it, and want to share it with the world. If the world doesn’t want to see it, they’re the ones missing out.

 

And that, is what it’s like writing.

 

-Your Bursting at the Seams with the next big thing Story-weaver

Started From the Bottom – Drake

A Hobbit Day

Currently tuned into AMC which is playing The Two Towers. I assume this is in honor of The Hobbit being released on Blur-ray,DVD, digital download, etc. At any rate, I love these movies. They are so well done. J.R.R. Tolkein was a genius.  

It’s hard for me to conceptualize a time before Hobbits. A time where orcs and elves were hardly defined. Almost everything now a days references LotR in one way or another. And this blows my mind. Tolkein created things that have become everyday things. Elves are used everywhere; video games, other books, movies. It’s incredible.

I wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank Grandpa Tolkein for all he accomplished.  He brought fantasy a long way and paved the road for many others. He single handedly made the genre more mainstream and opened the door for the likes of Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, and Brandon Sanderson.  

 

I wish Tolkein could have seen just how big the Lord of the Rings has become. It’d be interesting to see how he felt about the film interpretations. And as a writer I can not imagine he could have dreamed it to become what it has. It’s not in our nature. As good as we feel something we write is, we still have doubts. We know all the imperfections that others don’t after all.

I have to admit I’ve never managed to read the Lord of the Rings. I find it impossible to read something after I’ve watched it. It bores me (exception Harry Potter, but I read those first). I did read the Hobbit though and it was amazing in so many ways. I love that book and would suggest it to everyone.

 

Hears to you Grandpa Tolkein. Wish you were around to enjoy this.

 

-Your Half as Hairy as Hobbit blogger