I always like to keep my writing in mind over Christmas so that even if I’m not really able to get any writing done I stay close to it. Why? Because it’s my writing that, apart from family, most fully expresses who I am. Because in the still heart of writing I often find the greatest peace, because somehow writing keeps me feeling right if not sane…
People write for many different reasons. I’m currently reading Why We Write – 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do by Meredith Maran. The book features American authors. I’m not familiar with them all, there are giants like Isabelle Allende and Armistead Maupin, others are less well known to me but everything they say about why they write, the highs and lows of the writing life, the doubts, the lack of confidence etc is familiar. Here’s a taster:
Isabelle Allende – ‘…the best time for me was in 1981, when I was writing my first novel. There was no ambition to it, no hope that it would be published, no pressure of any kind.’
‘Excessive adjectives, excessive description – skip it, it’s unnecessary.’
Rick Moody ‘Whenever I am writing…or more accurately whenever I have written, I feel better and more at peace as a human being…. It’s a peaceful cloistered space, the page, where I don’t feel pressured the way I do in the world.’
Walter Mosley – ‘Writing is a long term investment. If you stick with it, you’ll reach the level of success that you need to.’
Sue Grafton – ‘Eudora Welty once said “Every book teaches you the lessons necessary to write that book.” To which I add, the problem is that lessons learned from writing one book seldom apply to the next.’
‘ Terry McMillan never, ever reads her reviews. “You have a baby; do you really care if other people think it’s cute?”’
I could go on, it’s a hugely quotable book, almost every page has something you want to copy out in large letters and stick on the board above your desk – a great book to keep you in touch with writing over the Yuletide.
And now to reading – a fat pile of shortlisted stories for The London Magazine Competition has arrived this morning. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.
Happy Christmas Everyone and a Great Writing Year ahead in 2014!
