A famous writer seated beside me at a biz luncheon once told me that he waited for the perfect inspiration to strike before he started any new project. Evidently this inspiration had to be vivid, flawless, and knock his socks off, and it also had to come on its own, with no prompting whatsoever. This, he insisted, was what divided the real writers from the fake ones.
Unless it involves bazookas aimed at my house, I believe one writer should respect another’s creative process (even when it is used to insult us fake writers.) I admire artistic writers, but I don’t have the means of trying to be one. What would my agent and editors do if I told them I was going to hold off on writing anything until I was struck by the absolutely perfect lightning bolt of unsolicited inspiration?
There would be tar, I imagine. And feathers. Lots of feathers.
Writers are strange fish. Famous Dude seemed content to sit and wait in his writing space, like some beautiful koi gliding around an artificial pond, trusting some divine hand to feed him when the time was right. Being a koi writer must be very relaxing, too — you just look gorgeous, swim in circles, and work only when the universe decides you should. Nothing wrong with that.
But Famous Dude didn’t have to worry about income, because he also had a high-paying day job teaching college students to swim around their little ponds and wait for someone to toss them story pellets or whatever. How to Be Koi 101, probably.
In this biz I’ve met all manner of fish: butterflies and barracudas, high fliers and bottom feeders, and every type in between. While I avoid the poisonous puffers and bad-tempered betas, I never mind hanging out with the bright little ones in their schools now and then — no charge.
I think of me and my close working writer friends as more like the restless, ever-traveling cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises.) We’re difficult to watch because we spend most of our time fully submerged in our work, and most of the time you won’t know we’re around. Now and then we surface to visit and play, then it’s back to business. We don’t wait for the universe to hand-feed us; we pursue what we need to survive. If that makes us fake fish, so be it.
Today I have a pile of some of my favorite books about writing to give away, and hopefully keep one of you out of the koi ponds of publishing:
Writing the Life Poetic by Sage Cohen
A Writer’s Space by Dr. Eric Maisel
The Write-Brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer
The Daily Writer by Fred White
The Pocket Muse 2 ~ Endless Inspiration for Writers by Monica Wood
These books, plus a signed copy of my own Way of the Cheetah, printed and bound in a three-ring binder, will arrive nestled in a fashionably fierce koi tote bag handmade by Haut Totes. I’ve fallen in love with these bags because they’re extremely well made, come in a bunch of fun and funky designs, and have a unique mesh lining that allows whatever you’re carrying to “breathe” (especially wonderful for when you go shopping at the local farmer’s market.)
If you’d like a chance to win this bag of writing goodies, in comments tell us what kind of writer fish you are (or, if you’re still evolving, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, September 5, 2009. I’ll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner the bag & books. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, so wherever you are, please join in.
