Writing for one's own amusement?
I think Edna Ferber hit the nail on the head though there is a certain amount of amusement also inherent in writing. At least I find that to be so when it comes to fiction. In and amongst all of the aforementioned ditch-digging and all, I always find little veins of not only amusement, but sometimes amazement. Like when words flow onto my monitor with a brilliance that I know can't be mine or when a character I've worked long and hard on suddenly comes to life. Those times are, to me, magic.
Now if I could just control those moments. Maybe once just sit down and write a story without having to continually fight with that inner voice that says everything I write is junk. Maybe not let it get to me when I think of the massive amount of work I've yet to do in order to master the art of writing. Sometimes I get to a place where I think I should just walk away. Leave it. And I do but only for a few days. After being away from the keyboard for a while, the art calls to me. Softly at first, then louder and more insistent. The characters I've created, the imaginary realms and the magic moments when the words flow like molten silver all lure me back to them like treasures just waiting to be unearthed. Perhaps the most amusing part of it all is the fact that I'm incurably hooked. Oh well, guess I'll get back to working on my novel....
In keeping with this month's rant I found the following good advice.
Do you know why when some writers write, the words come easily?
Why it doesn't seem to require any effort at all for the words to take shape on the page?
Why their prose is almost fluid?
Why, when other writers may take seven, eight or nine drafts, it only takes them two or three drafts to the final draft?
The answer is simple: These writers keep showing up and writing.
They have made it a habit to show up on the page regularly -- whether it be every day or every other day or some other schedule.
Showing up and then writing means most of the time, you end up writing mostly flab -- excess fat.
You do not tone muscles and get a shapely and perfect body right after an hour of aerobics or tae-bo. It requires months and months of religiously following a regimen -- a balanced diet and continuous work outs.
Writing is no exception. It follows the same principle: you follow a writing regimen. You face the page no matter what. And you keep on writing down the flab, the awful stuff, the icky drafts.
Eventually, they will give way to the good stuff -- your prose becomes more textured, your voice clearer and more true.
Write as much and as often as you can, and never allow bad writing to stop you from writing.
Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com
"I didn't know that!"
"Ambrose Gwinnet Bierce"
Vanished without a trace in 1913. No one knows what
became of him. See below.
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce , 1842-1914?, American satirist, journalist, and short-story writer, b. Meigs co., Ohio. After distinguished Civil War service, he turned to journalism. In San Francisco he wrote for the News-Letter, becoming its editor in 1868. He soon established a reputation as a satirical wit, and his waspish squibs and epigrams were much quoted. In London (1872-75), he wrote for the magazine Fun and finished three books, including Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874). After his return to San Francisco, he wrote for the Argonaut, edited the Wasp (1881-86), and was a columnist for Hearst's Sunday Examiner (1887-96); his writings in the Examiner made him the literary arbiter of the West Coast. Later he was Washington correspondent for the American and a contributor to Cosmopolitan.
Bierce's collection of sardonic definitions, The Cynic's Word Book (1906), was retitled The Devil's Dictionary in 1911. Often dark in tone, grisly or macabre in subject matter, and masterful in their spare language, his short stories were collected in such volumes as Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891) and Can Such Things Be? (1893). He was also highly praised for The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter (1892), which he adapted from a translation of a German story. Bierce's distinction lies in his distilled satire, in the crisp precision of his language, and in his realistically developed horror stories. Disillusionment and sadness pervaded the latter part of his life. In 1913 he went to Mexico, where all trace of him was lost.
Bibliography: See his Collected Works (12 vol., 1909-12; repr. 1966); Collected Writings (ed. by C. Fadiman, 1946); Phantoms of a Blood-Stained Period: The Complete Civil War Writings (ed. by R. Duncan and D. J. Klooster, 2002); biographies by R. O'Connor (1967) and R. Morris, Jr. (1996); studies by M. E. Grenander (1971), C. N. Davidson (1984), and R. Saunders (1984).
With thanks to High Beam Encyclopedia. http://www.encyclopedia.com
Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf
Long Story Short:http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@yahoo.com
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine.com/
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place: Poynter: 30 Writers Tips: http:www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=707
Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download : http://www.wordweb.info/
I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 03/17/08
posted by Aelf at 3:43 AM 
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