Since living out here, I work and come home to an empty apartment, a laptop and nothing to do. Weekends have become wasted sitting around, doing laundry and watching movies, and in some ways it would almost sound better if I was getting wasted in bars instead of doing this with free time, because at least going to bars and knocking back Soju would be more social. Alas, nature swooped in, or maybe it was my calendar and provided me with something to do. I decided to join Nano, an organization that challenges people to write a novel in a month. I settled on a short story collection I've had on my mind since college, only to realize that I had a lot more to say about the subject than originally planned. Describing stories has always been a weakness. There are only seven stories in the world so I'm no good at making it sound interesting or exciting, but I'll say this-- it's about a family, struggling with the American Dream and ideals about love. Snoring yet?
Last weekend I went to a write in for Nano, sponsored by a fellow member and marvelled at the way people described their stories. There was a rise in their voice, with lots of expressive adjectives and pronouns. They seem like they really like their stories. For whatever reason, that has never been my style. Perhaps because I don't write about the fantasy and sci fi, or my stories are just about regular people, the slice of life type of stuff. Those types of books are appealing and obviously, those types of stories would be most appealing to write. But when focused on the purpose of Nano, the question came up in my head, why write? Why even bother? When I mention writing my students groan and shout out no. It makes them distracted and grumpy. So why do it?
The easiest answer to that question comes from the past-- what one liked to do as a child. For some kids, it was watching cartoons, for others it was riding on their scooter, or playing video games, or just hanging out with friends, but the moments that were most fun for me were those lonely hours when it was just me, my chalk board, and a notebook where I could scribble all these awesome story ideas. That was the most fun. I could slip out of my own life and into someone else's, play God and make things happen. I could feel important and be lost at the same time.
So why write? Because it's fun. Because it's a challenge to take a bunch of words and within that, create a world that's interesting and relateable at the same time. Some say the reason to write is to edify, to create, to make a statement, but it's much more banal than that. Is it entertaining and interesting? Those are the more important questions. If it's not entertaining to me, why would anyone else read it?
I have to think of that while I'm cranking out this draft. 50,000 words isn't that hard (it's about 100 double spaced pages) but it's turning my inner critic off that's so hard. The desire to go back and edit is strong, but it's imperative to ignore it. Otherwise, I won't finish. Otherwise, I miss the whole point of writing in the first place. Ernest Hemingway said the first draft is always shit, and it's hard advice to remember while writing your own, because of course, all of your shit is so good the New Yorker's fighting for it. The purpose of the first draft isn't to edify and solve problems. It's to entertain and pique my own interest. It's to slip out of my mind and into the heart of the story. Good stories have a way of doing that -- of taking you out of your mind and slipping you into theirs. That's the hard part. After that, the rest is a cakewalk, and I must remember that when asking the question, why write?
Last weekend I went to a write in for Nano, sponsored by a fellow member and marvelled at the way people described their stories. There was a rise in their voice, with lots of expressive adjectives and pronouns. They seem like they really like their stories. For whatever reason, that has never been my style. Perhaps because I don't write about the fantasy and sci fi, or my stories are just about regular people, the slice of life type of stuff. Those types of books are appealing and obviously, those types of stories would be most appealing to write. But when focused on the purpose of Nano, the question came up in my head, why write? Why even bother? When I mention writing my students groan and shout out no. It makes them distracted and grumpy. So why do it?
The easiest answer to that question comes from the past-- what one liked to do as a child. For some kids, it was watching cartoons, for others it was riding on their scooter, or playing video games, or just hanging out with friends, but the moments that were most fun for me were those lonely hours when it was just me, my chalk board, and a notebook where I could scribble all these awesome story ideas. That was the most fun. I could slip out of my own life and into someone else's, play God and make things happen. I could feel important and be lost at the same time.
So why write? Because it's fun. Because it's a challenge to take a bunch of words and within that, create a world that's interesting and relateable at the same time. Some say the reason to write is to edify, to create, to make a statement, but it's much more banal than that. Is it entertaining and interesting? Those are the more important questions. If it's not entertaining to me, why would anyone else read it?
I have to think of that while I'm cranking out this draft. 50,000 words isn't that hard (it's about 100 double spaced pages) but it's turning my inner critic off that's so hard. The desire to go back and edit is strong, but it's imperative to ignore it. Otherwise, I won't finish. Otherwise, I miss the whole point of writing in the first place. Ernest Hemingway said the first draft is always shit, and it's hard advice to remember while writing your own, because of course, all of your shit is so good the New Yorker's fighting for it. The purpose of the first draft isn't to edify and solve problems. It's to entertain and pique my own interest. It's to slip out of my mind and into the heart of the story. Good stories have a way of doing that -- of taking you out of your mind and slipping you into theirs. That's the hard part. After that, the rest is a cakewalk, and I must remember that when asking the question, why write?
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