Writers: Tough as Hell!

Writers are often portrayed in the media as introverted nerds, men and women possessed of buttery muscles barely suited for carrying a ream of paper to their printer.  And if you want to be really honest about it, a lot of writers are indeed introverts, preferring to dwell in the worlds of their own making than deal with the hassle of navigating the real world outside of their cozy, little writing nook.  But hey, what's wrong with that?  And besides, there have been plenty of famously tough writers, like Ernest Hemmingway and Dashiell Hammett, among others.  But it's not always about physical toughness, writing, contrary to what many, if not most, non-writers believe, is hard work!  It isn't easy creating believable characters, engaging dialogue, thought-provoking conflict, and so on.  Is it any wonder then that so many writers develop writer's block?

Writer's block - Wikipedia
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work, or experiences a creative slowdown. The condition ranges in difficulty from coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce a work for years.

For many writers, their biggest obstacle is that first blank page.  Yet, a writer cannot and must not wring their hands in frustration and cry, "Woe is me!"  A writer has to reach deep inside and overcome whatever physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual obstacles may be hell-bent to deter them from accomplishing the task at hand.  And believe me it isn't easy.  As I have mentioned earlier, a lot of writers are introverts.  This is of necessity.  How can you write that great poem, short-story, novel, or script, if you're out and gallivanting about instead of actually writing?  Okay, I know, I know...   F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of "The Great Gatsby," was famous for doing just that.  But that argument brings us back to the question of toughness.  He had to have been hella-tough in order to have written as well as he did, after spending much of his time living it up.  And as I've pointed out before, it's not just a question of physical toughness.  There are many, many writers out there that have suffered through break-ups, the death of a loved one, the trauma of becoming homeless, the horror of being abused... and yet these same folks have the guts to sit down, look at a blank sheet of paper, and share their experiences with the world.  They are quite literally laying their souls out to be scrutinized by an audience that is no way guaranteed to be understanding, accepting, sympathetic or even polite.  That takes an enormous amount of guts.  A writer has no choice but to be tough as nails.

"By far the most damaging thought I’ve heard from the confessors – and other authors have told me the same thing over and over – is the expectation that writing should be a “fun” or “leisurely” activity. Pop culture reinforces this by perpetuating the image of the writer as a mega-talented, but lazy and self-indulgent buffoon (think Hank Moody).
And so, many overcome the first hurdle – deciding to start – ready for the magic to happen. Expecting it all to emerge, freshly baked and ready for primetime.
Then, of course, it doesn’t.
Then anxiety kicks in.
Fear of judgment by others, doubts about one’s abilities. Mounting frustration as to why it’s so much slower and more agonizing than one expected.
The plain truth is, writing is a predictably painful process. It is far more hard labor than careless play.
And it’s not like the greats haven’t warned us.
Becoming a masochist early on – embracing the pain to the point of enjoyment – may be the single best investment an aspiring writer can make.
The pain takes many shapes, all of them useful along the writer’s path.

1. Embrace the Road to Hell
As Hemingway once so elegantly put it, “the first draft of anything is shit.”
And that’s only when one produces something so elaborate as to be called a “draft”.
Most of the time, writing remains stillborn, in a kind of literary purgatory. Outlines, random notes, sketches, hackneyed bits and pieces – they have a way of quickly prematurely bursting into life, only to suddenly stop breathing and just hang there.
Philip Roth was slightly more inclusive when he said “the road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
Both Hemingway and Roth touch on the elemental truth of all writing: it’s not good.
At least not at first.
Kerouac’s celestial typewriter notwithstanding, good writing doesn’t just naturally “babble flow”. And when it does, it’s usually shit.

2. Connect to the Pain of Others
Pain is not, however, an end in itself.
Its purpose is often times to link the writer to the pain felt by others. Most entertainment distracts us from the pains of daily life. Writing and reading, can, at their best, be about placing those pains under a shining light.
Anais Nin implores us that “if you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write. Because our culture has no use for it.”
Likewise, for Kurt Vonnegut, the pain of writing is a mere reflection of the pain of existence – you provide others with relief by admitting to the suffering publicly.
“Do you realize that all great literature is all about what a bummer it is to be a human being?” Vonnegut asks. “Isn’t it such a relief to have somebody say that?”
One of the tragedies of social media has been its penchant for turning writing into oceans of brainless typing – another trivial form of expression in a culture filled with them.
But, at its core, writing is – and perhaps always has been – a cathartic activity.
Those who disagree would do well to keep Nin’s advice handy."
 - Frederick Pinto

When it comes to the toughness of writers, we can even turn to a group of people that are world-renowned for their toughness: The Marines!

“In my younger days dodging the draft, I somehow wound up in the Marine Corps. There's a myth that Marine training turns baby-faced recruits into bloodthirsty killers. Trust me, the Marine Corps is not that efficient. What it does teach, however, is a lot more useful.
The Marine Corps teaches you how to be miserable.
This is invaluable for an artist.
Marines love to be miserable. Marines derive a perverse satisfaction in having colder chow, crappier equipment, and higher casualty rates than any outfit of dogfaces, swab jockeys, or flyboys, all of whom they despise. Why? Because these candy-asses don't know how to be miserable.
The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.
The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being more miserable than any soldier or swabbie or jet jockey. Because this is war, baby. And war is hell."
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

And there you have it.  It was probably tough just reading through all of this stuff, but I also hope it was worth it.  When it comes to your chosen profession, nobody ever promised you a rose garden.  Writing is hard work, it costs you, it bleeds you dry and then asks for more.  But it's the job we chose... it's what and who we are.  So gird your loins, strap on the big guns of patience, research, and talent, grab that second or third cup of coffee, and go kick some ass!

Cats and Keyboards

As I write this, my son's cat is sitting on the floor staring intently at my fingers as they move across the keyboard.  She is joined shortly by my daughter's cat, and now they're both staring . hard.  They can't be hungry because I just gave them a huge meal consisting of wet and dry food.  They can't be thirsty because I just filled their water dish with some nice, cool refreshing agua.  So what's going on?

 If you're a writer (and I'm assuming that you are if you're reading this), and if you have one or more cats in your home, then you know what's probably going to happen next.  It's a situation that I was hoping to avoid by feeding them and filling their water dish before I sat down to write.  Yes, you know what I'm talking about.  In a few minutes or less, one or both of them will pounce on my keyboard and then proceed to walk across the keys, or sit there and look at me as if pondering why in the world would I be doing something as silly as typing away on the keyboard when I could be doing something much more constructive like, say, scratching her back or rubbing her belly.  At one time I actually thought that I was the only one afflicted with cats that felt divinely endowed with the right to interrupt my writing, but I soon found out that many cat-owning writers were under a similar siege from their feline friends.

"Cats are narcissistic. Their needs come before ours. They don't understand the word "No." They carry themselves with that aloof, arrogant sense of perpetual entitlement, they will jump up and insinuate themselves wherever they please--on your lap, on your newspaper, on your computer keyboard--and they really couldn't care less how their behavior affects the people in their lives."
 - Caroline Knapp

Does Caroline's assessment match up with your experience?  The cats here in my home still haven't moved, so maybe they're enjoying my discomfort or maybe they just haven't made up their minds... geez, there's a horror story in this somewhere.  Cats, as you may well know, are curious, intelligent, and territorial.  So you pounding away at your keyboard as you wend your way through your most recent work-in-progress, may set off one or more of your cat's natural attributes.  They may jump up on your keyboard because they're simply curious about what it is that you're doing.  Their inherent intelligence may also prompt them to see how what you're doing correlates to their own lives and quality of existence (am I reaching here?).  Your cat(s) may also be wondering why your keyboard, a usually inanimate actor in their territory, warrants more attention than he/she does at the moment.  I mean, really, who knows?  I could go on at length but must stop myself short before I find myself anthropomorphisizing these wonderful creatures further and thus relegating them to the realm of cartoons.  Let's hear (or read) from another cat-owning writer:

"Recently, Japanese website My Navi examined this issue that has confronted cat owners as long as there's been computer keyboards. Cats, My Navi pointed out, love warm places, and computers offer just that. In fact, cats like temperatures as hot as 126 degrees Fahrenheit! This is why cats are always lounging in the sun, and this might be due to the animals' desert ancestors.
What's more, cats love things that move and make noises. Computers are a hive of activity, with things happening onscreen as well as blinking LED lights on monitors, computers, and keyboards. The cursor, in particular, is of great interest to our feline friends, My Navi notes. Its movement probably reminds cats of insects.
Keyboards are somewhat pliant in that they "give" when they cats walk across the keys, pressing them down. Cats love soft things, and this probably also helps your keyboard seem like a cool kitten place to hang out and punch out a few paw strokes.
And finally, cats want attention. They want your attention! And if you are spending too much time at the computer, a stroll across your keyboard is your cat's way to say, hey, look at me. But since the area is warm, active, and tactile, it makes the computer a place your feline friend likes just as much as you do."
 -Brian Ashcraft

So there you have it.  I hope that this post has helped solve why cats are so darn attracted to your keyboard, especially while you're using it.  The two cats here seemed to have gotten bored and wandered away, giving me the rare opportunity to get some writing done uninterrupted and unimpeded... Or maybe they're just plotting their next move.

It's raining...

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day!  Remember saying that poem when you wanted to go outside and play but the wet weather outside (and maybe your parents) dictated that your day would probably be spent indoors?  Well, the weather here in New York has been wet, dismal, overcast and rainy for about a week now and so I'm inspired to write a blog post about writing and rain.
  Writing is a task of the soul, or so I've always felt.  It's something that requires the very best of you at all times.  And whether you view it as a task or a pleasure, there are so many outside elements and distractions that can and will affect your writing that sometimes it seems as if you are fighting a losing battle when you'd rather be in the midst of world-building or creating an amazing bit of dialogue.  Can the weather be yet another possible obstacle to your writing?  Can Mother Nature be so cruel as to joust with your poor embattled muse over control of your mood and creativity?  The answer, of course, is yes.  Some writers, my self included, love to write while it's raining.  There's something inherently romantic, maybe even visceral, about sitting down to your work while the world drowns outside your window.  There are a lot of other writers however that say that their moods are so affected by the rainy weather that they find it nearly impossible to get any writing done.

Andressa Andrade, a Brazilian Mental health advocate, states:
  "Well, it turns out that yes, science backs up the idea that sunlight makes you happier. According to my research, sunlight has the power to give the body a cue to release more serotonin. Serotonin is known as the “happiness hormone”. It lifts our moods, gives us more energy and increases our concentration. Low levels of serotonin are one of the typical symptoms of depression — the mental illness, I mean.  So when it’s raining a lot and you don’t get enough sunlight, that can lower your serotonin levels and trigger what we call “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD), a type of depression that comes when the seasons change.  But rainy weather doesn’t always make people sad. There are people who prefer cloudy days to sunny ones. I for one, love them. I like reading a good book under the blankets while listening to the sound of the rain.  Scientific research has shown that people can be divided into four groups: Summer Lovers, Summer Haters, Rain Haters and Unaffected (people whose mood is not altered by changes in the weather). You may be a Rain Hater, but not all of us are.

I also believe — and this is a personal belief, not linked to any of my research — that we are culturally conditioned to associate rain with sadness. Have you ever noticed how it almost always rains when everything goes wrong in movies?"

  So if you find yourself less than eager to get into that novel, short-story or poem you were working on while it's raining, you may now understand why... or why not.  As I mentioned before, writing is a task of the soul, it's a very deep and personal thing, no matter what you're writing.  And, like it or not, your writing is usually deeply influenced by the world around and inside us.  Some of the best love songs ever written were written by people who had suffered the loss of a loved one.  Outside influences, no matter how much we try to insulate ourselves and our writing from them, can still trigger feelings that we may not even be fully aware of...  like the rush of emotion you may experience upon hearing an old song or catching a whiff of a particular perfume...  rain can do that too.  And it doesn't have to be negative.  Maybe the rain outside can somehow make it inside your work-in-progress: 
“The rain continued. It was a hard rain, a perpetual rain, a sweating and steaming rain; it was a mizzle, a downpour, a fountain, a whipping at the eyes, an undertow at the ankles; it was a rain to drown all rains and the memory of rains.” - Ray Bradbury.

In his article, Rainy Day Writing, Bryan Cohen tackles the same subject:
  "Rainy day writing can be a difficult task for people who let the weather affect their mood and productivity. I choose my words carefully here, "people who let the weather affect (them)." It shouldn't be a surprise to you that most people (probably including you) like to absolve themselves of responsibility. I know there are conditions such as Seasonal Affect Disorder that can really mess with a person when he's trying to get something done, but most who have issues during cold, windy or rainy days are letting the weather get to them. Sometimes, you need to take control of your life by taking control of your mood.  As I'm working on this post, I'm engaging in a bit of rainy day writing myself. It would be silly for me to claim that this is an easy task, since I used to be one of those folks who would, in the words of Milli Vanilli, "Blame it on the rain." Much like that band's fake singing, blaming a lack of productivity on the rain doesn't have a lot of substance. I recall back in my coffee shop days when I would ask people how they were and they would respond, "Well, it's raining outside." They would respond as if the weather was directly related to their mood. Isn't that kind of a crappy way to live? Completely dictated by something you can't control?"

It is indeed a "crappy way to live."  It's also a crappy excuse for not getting any writing done.  Look, as I was doing the research for this blogpost, I found something uniquely suited for those of us that refuse to let something as trivial as a little rain affect our ability to write.  I share it with you below:

Rite in the Rain All-Weather Top-Spiral Notebook
https://www.amazon.com/Rite-Rain-All-Weather-Top-Spiral-946/dp/B000ZZTUEM

That's right, Amazon sells a waterproof notebook which can be used to write in the rain, and it's called the "Rite."  Now honestly, I can't vouch for how well this item actually works, but I find it intriguing that someone thought of it at all, and then made it happen.  If any of you out there have used it, please write me and let me know your thoughts.

Anyway, it looks like the rain is letting up for now, so I guess I'll take a break from my writing and make a quick trip to the local bodega to pick up some milk for my coffee.

Word Clutter

In my last blog post, I tackled (a soft tackle, I admit) the issue of the cluttered workspace.  Now I'd like to segue to the issue of cluttered writing.  Yes, in case you weren't aware of it, cluttered writing is a thing.  In fact, for most of us, cluttered writing is something that we may have picked up when we first started writing for school assignments way back when.  For a lot of folks writing back then for, let's say, a book report assignment, brevity may not have seemed to be a viable option.  When your teacher or professor insisted on a ten page report on "To Kill a Mockingbird," you may have been hard-pressed for enough things to say in a concise or succinct manner (did you catch my clutter there?).  As time went on, many of us kept in the habit of filling empty space with an overabundance of words.  To a lot of non-writers, this copious quantity of word plentifulness (how about now?) looks like you're really smart and know a profuse amount of words!  Now, while actually knowing a lot of words is good, great even, trying to use them all at once in your writing may seem pretentious or even amateurish to a potential agent, publisher, or even reader.  Now, I don't know what your opinion is concerning cluttered writing, but lets read the learned opinion of  William Zinsser, as written in his book, "On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction."
  "I think of "clutter words" as "flutter words." They may look pretty as they flutter around the substance of a sentence, but they are distracting, and fighting clutter is like fighting weeds--the writer is always slightly behind."
He defines clutter as "the laborious phrase which has pushed out the short word that means the same thing."
Most people use word clutter carelessly, without intention, while other people use clutter in the hopes that they will sound more important or because they think it is expected in their profession. But in almost all cases, word clutter should be avoided.  Most agents (not to mention readers) prefer writing that is spare and gets to the point.
  William Strunk, famous for his advice on effective writing, said: “Omit needless words.” Why write “not very good” when you can write “atrocious”? Why say “actually quite interesting” when you can say “fascinating”?
  Weak verbs add clutter to writing. Often, one strong word can replace two weak ones. For example, replace “think up a plan” with “devise a plan.” Substitute “go around the country” with “travel the country.” Unnecessary adjectives are equally worthless. Why write “a severe problem” when you can say “a crisis”?  The “if” clause is another way to kill clarity. For example: “If you want to write more concisely, get to the point.” Why not simply say: “To write more concisely, get to the point”? This is better, but what if we removed the verb “write”? We could then say: “Concise writing gets to the point.”
 
So I hope you writers out there have gotten the point.  Declutter your writing, and your writing will be the better for it.  Remember, you're not trying to prove how smart you are, just what a great writer you are!

A writer's clutter...

clut·ter
ˈklədər/Submit
verb
1. crowd (something) untidily; fill with clutter.
"his apartment was cluttered with paintings and antiques"
synonyms: litter, mess up, disarrange; More
noun
1. a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.
"the attic is full of clutter"

As I write this, I am almost fully ensconced in a cocoon of clutter.  Suffice to say that this "Fortress of Solitude" consisting of books, more books, paper, stationary supplies, computer supplies, software, pens, pencils, coffee mugs, paper plates, artwork, mail, action figures, computer wiring, networking and cable hardware, writing magazines, snacks, and for some reason a weed whacker and a tiny maraca, is where I do a lot of my writing.  Is it comfortable?  It is to me.  Is it at all disconcerting?  Only, it seems, to friends and family members that stop by to visit and can't seem to fathom why I would work under such conditions.  The truth is that I kind of like my clutter.  What may seem like absolute chaos to the outside or casual observer is actually an orderly disorder to me.  I can quickly and easily find whatever it is that I need at the moment, I pretty much know where everything is, and speaking of everything; it's all within easy reach without my having to abandon my work or latest writing frenzy.
 
"Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein

Ahh, good ol' Albert Einstein... who am I to argue with his famous logic and intellect?  Most writers I know have a workspace that can only in kind terms be described as cluttered.  Yet they are happy with the condition of their workspace and guard it's condition and contents jealously.  Ask them where anything is and they can pull it out of the seeming morass of stuff with little to no effort.  This is simplicity at it's finest.  A writer that works in clutter is often also happy in his/her mess and so produces more and better work.  Nature, if viewed clinically, is chaotic, discordant, and often... "cluttered."  Yet, whom among us hasn't also found the harmony in nature as well?  The symmetry of a butterfly's wings?  The gentle, soothing sound of the surf rolling onto the shore?  From the seeming discord of a writer's clutter, they can often find the harmony needed to write... and write well.  To an outside observer, a writer's less-than-tidy workspace can seem like a difficult place to work.  Yet, it can be in this seemingly difficult place that a writer finds the opportunity to hide away and actually get some work done.  Other folks may find it daunting to enter the writer's maze-like lair in order to borrow things like pencils, staplers, paper, etc.  Thus affording the writer a space that is truly his or her getaway.  A space that gives the writer the opportunity to keep his/her stuff safely within arms reach, and available for their next work-in-progress.
  Okay, I know that there are plenty of writers out there that keep their workspaces neat, tidy, and clean... kudos to you!  I know that you produce fine work, and still manage to keep things organized and that's good... for you.  Me, I prefer a little disharmony, a little mess, and a little clutter as I tackle the various worlds that I build in my fiction.  Worlds that may be, just a little, cluttered as well.

Wasted days and wasted nights...

I, like most writers, lament not having enough time to spend on my writing. Most writers just can't find the time to properly devote their time to their chosen craft.  Now, don't get me wrong, I know that a part of the writing process often involves staring out of the window, or across the street, clipping your toenails or petting the cat.  I get that.  It is those times of reflection and/or inner conversation that we come up with some of our best work.  I get that.  Unfortunately, what I'm writing about here is honest-to-goodness wasted time.  Time that you could have used to work on your novel, poem, short story, etc., but that instead was frittered away never to be regained in this lifetime.
 Writing, unlike time, is finite.  What I mean by that is that no matter how much you write, it will all come to an end someday.  How much you produce, and of what quality, is up to how disciplined you are when it comes to time management as far as your writing goes.  We all know that "real life" often intrudes into the world of your writing.  The kids, the bills, the pets, the job, household chores, and the list goes on and on.  But when you finally do get the chance to write, how serious are you about getting to it?  Are you more interested in what is going on in social media than in your own writing?
  A report by CNN reveals a dramatic one-hour increase over last year in how often the average American adult gorges on media in a day. Americans devote more than 10 hours a day to screen time. During the same time period last year, Nielsen reported that people spent about nine hours and 39 minutes engaging with their electronic gadgets. Jul 29, 2016
  That's a lot of people wasting a lot of time.
  Yes, I know that social media is a very important way of marketing your writing, but surely you can squeeze a couple of thousand words into your next novel as well?  Is it really that important to spend an hour or more watching cute kitten videos or finding out what Becky did at the family bar-be-cue?  Eventually those things may even end up as grist for your writing mill, but the more time you spend doing stuff like that, the less time you have to devote to your writing.  And ultimately this just winds up being another form of procrastination; a terrible malady suffered by many writers.  And of course it's not just social media, we can find plenty of things to do other than write.  Sort through our mail, fold socks, stare blankly at the wall...  But at some point you simply must shake off the webs of procrastination, stop wasting precious time (because it is precious!), and get writing!
  I know that it isn't easy, I love binge watching some of my favorite t

v shows, but I have to still discipline my time so I can get my writing done.  That can be considered "calculated" procrastination, because I still am aware that I have to get to my writing.  You have to as well.  I know that many writers, like other artists, like to wait for their muse to show up, or to be otherwise inspired before doing their writing, but like best-selling thriller author Michael Blaine once said, "You have to write like you're digging a ditch."  In other words, you have to press forward and write.  Write like it's your job, write like it's one of the most important things in your life, write like it's the thing that's keeping the roof over your head and your family fed.  If you're still having trouble finding that all-elusive time to write, take a time management class... even though that may be another waste of time, because you're supposed to be writing.
  Now, stop reading this thing and get back to your writing!