Writers who Write about Writing

As of late, I have been spending more time writing "things."

My wife and I recently took over an art gallery and I have been spending a lot of time at the gallery. This means I get to enjoy periods of quiet reflection mixed in with periods of frenetic activity. It also means I get to spend far more time "in public," which means getting flashes of unexpected inspiration from the people who visit.

Last time I had a gallery/shop (1990's) I also wrote a lot. Not sure what it is about this type of setting that makes things "move." I'll have to get back to you on that.

I have read a lot of opinions about "writers who write about writing" and much of it is not particularly complimentary. Not complimentary, in the sense of critics saying it shows a lack of creativity... and is (by extension) an example of the old saying "Those who can, DO; those who can't, TEACH." Maybe there are elements of truth there... haven't decided yet.

For me, it's more a case that writing words like these helps me "warm up" to writing something more creative.

Changing the "Voice" of a Blog

As of late-- in part because I have been sick, and largely unable to focus on my regular work-- I have been contemplating what to "do" with my various blogs and web properties... some of which are approaching 20 years of age.

20 years!

That's the equivalent of "the history of the world," in the world of the Internet.

One of my mainstay blogs is about to get an overhaul or makeover-- or at least a ""Change of Voice."

What I mean by that is that the blog was originally built mostly around personal experiences within a specific niche (starting in 2002), but as time progressed I allowed the "personal" aspect to give way to a more scientific, 3rd person approach. Eventually, the blog progressed to a point where I had pretty much written "myself" completely out of the picture.

Whereas that may be good, bad or whatever... fact remains that the blog stopped serving me, and simply became a vehicle for transmitting information,

And something was lost, in the process.

I get the sense that this kind of "progression" happens to more than a few niche writers. We get trapped in a pattern of focusing excessively on "writing properly," and lose sight of why we started writing, in the first place.

Being in the business of writing is never static. We may talk ourselves into believing that we get to "publish, and then we're done" but that's seldom 100% true. And so... I will start the process of evaluating those many venues and taking a hard look at what their intent truly is.

If you're a writer, I'd recommend you do the same...

I should always write in the mornings

Once again, I am reminded of the importance of writing first thing in the morning.

Could be that I simply lose my focus as the day goes on-- or maybe my brain gets tired-- but I sat here yesterday at 4:00 in the afternoon, realizing that I really had very little to contribute.

At the end of a day of "this, that and the other," the creative side of my brain amounted to little more than noise and mush.

What is your writing practice?

Although I am not exactly what most people would call a "morning person," there is little doubt that I do my best writing early in the day. By about 2-3 in the afternoon, I lack clarity.

According to writing consultant and creative writer Julia Cameron, we are typically at our "cleanest" (in terms of expression) before our heads start to fill up with the tasks of the day and the influences of all the stuff that is going on around us-- family, work, the news, life. And that holds true, regardless of whether we are early risers or night owls.

Of course, there are those who say they write their best late at night... but-- on further investigation-- it typically is true that this "best" doesn't set in until after a "wind down" from their day.

All These Words in Random Places

Once again, I find myself contemplating my "serial writing" practice... or, rather, my lack of a practice.

I have often said-- and I suppose it has become a personal philosophy of sorts-- that the secret to becoming and being a writer is simply "to write." And that's not really a secret, or is it any kind of magic potion... "it" all begins with us sitting down and churning out words.

What I mean by that is that a lot of people talk and plan and think about doing what they want to be doing but fail to actually DO any of the doing of what they are planning, thinking and talking about doing.

A few years ago, I decided to combat my own laziness and general lack of motivation by taking at least minimal (but often more) notes every time I had an idea or thought that seemed "writing worthy." I don't know that it has served to increase the volume of my writing by a whole lot-- I still struggle to complete articles on a regular basis-- but at least it has kept me in a more creative frame of mind.

And I have built an impressive collection of hand written notes...

Of course, it happened again today... where a comment left on a Facebook post got extended into a short blog post about writing, which in turn got transmuted into a different-- and much longer-- blog post about my struggle with ADHD.

I look at my reams of tiny scribbled pieces of paper, and can only hope that some day they might turn themselves into something... meanwhile, I will continue to place "random words" in random places...