Being a writer and having to write about the other
writers and the writing process is a bit challenging in some aspects. However, I really enjoyed an article by
Walter Mosley, “For Authors, Fragile
Ideas Need Loving Every Day.” I
enjoyed the way Mosley explains how writers basically need to nourish their
inner scribe on a daily basis. I tend to
agree with his statements, because writing will become a second nature after a
while. Some writers struggle to come up
with ideas, unless they practice a certain habit or ritual that gets the ideas
flowing. Many writers have different
ways to incite their creativity, and for me it is nature. The writing process can probably become
easier if the author practices whatever helps them, then follow that by sitting
with one’s ideas and putting them down on paper. This is important regardless of how organized
the ideas are, because some ideas may not be needed until future writings. I wonder how many ideas are lost to
distraction every day, because people don’t write them down. Writing on a daily basis can also be
beneficial, because it gives the author a chance to read and possibly edit his
or her previous day’s work. Mosley really
uses some great comparisons to emphasize the importance keeping a journal of
some sort.
One statement in particular stuck with me, as Mosley
stated, “The
next day you might write for hours; there's no way to tell. The goal is not a
number of words or hours spent writing. All you need to do is to keep your
heart and mind open to the work.” I
really think that is the key point he wanted to make, is for writers to keep
their minds open to their work every day.
Some writers write in spurts in which they may produce pages or even
chapters in days or weeks. The worst part
about this is that the scribe may not touch the work for several weeks
afterwards, and the words may have become stale and uninteresting after sitting
for so long. No matter how you look at
the topic, writers all have their independent ways and styles of producing
words. I think Mosley’s advice is good
for any style of writing, because staying active with one’s passion will lead
to greater successes down the road.
References
Mosley, W. (2000, July 3). Arts: New York Times
Website. Retrieved from New York Times Website:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/070300mosley-writing.html
Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI used Walter Mosley's article as well and took some of the same conclusions as well. As someone who writes as a hobby, I agree with Mosley that the act mud be practiced every day. Just as staying in shape requires a person to excercise everyday, a person who calls themselves a writer requires a person to write everyday. While the advice of a journal is valuable I think that the use of a blog is a great way of being able to get ideas out while sharing them with the world.