5 Things I learned in a big building.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.
My late-flowering University romance is nearly over. A few more weeks and it's via con Dios. The hyperbole and dialectics are winding down to a pleasant metaphor that has no end or beginning. I guess I knew this would happen. All good things have a way of crumbling ignominiously in order to thicken the plot. If I was an oxymoron I'd laugh miserably till I cried with joy but I haven't a chance of reaching that climacteric dénouement. The word is out. No one knows what it is. Talent, genius or plain chutzpah?
Enough already. What did I learn?
1. There's a multitude of opinions regarding the transmission of Creative Writing. It seems no one knows what all the ingredients are for making the minestrone. Some say anyone can chop the onions but then there's the sauce. It may be only a few are born with the perfect gastronomic nose.
While you can learn technique, no one can create a voice for you. You either have something to say or you don't. Mathew Hall
I'm still not convinced creative writing can be taught. Perhaps you can take a mediocre novelist and make them into a slightly better one, but a course can't make someone into a good writer. Will Self
2. Passion, dedication and hubris may not be enough. The good news is you don't have to be a genius to make the grade. There's plenty of carbon infestations for all kinds of soul-bearers and with the right planetary alignment, you can settle down and live off the fat of the land, George. Just don't pet that mouse too hard, Lennie.
There are no hard and fast rules, but writing exercises can help students become more sensitive to the impact of different techniques. Maureen Freely
While a creative writing course can't turn someone into a writer, if you have ability and are willing to work hard, a course can help you to improve more quickly. Andrew Cowan
3. The essential nuts and bolts cannot be gainsaid. If you truly love something then you have to find every nook and cranny, every ounce of stardust that nails that song to your ticker.
And now the purple dusk of twilight time,
Steals across the meadows of my heart,
High up in the sky the little stars climb,
Always reminding me that we're apart.
You wander down the lane and far away,
Leaving me a song that will not die,
Love is now the stardust of yesterday,
The music of the years gone by.
Hoagy Carmichael
Aw, shucks, hand me the tissues.
If you're going to make a hash of your life by trying to earn a living from scribbling, the least you can do is to do it with style. There's a ton of amazing advice from the great and the good to help you use chopsticks without looking like a giraffe playing the accordion. Check out these doozies from Elmore Leonard:
Never open a book with weather.
Avoid prologues.
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” …
Keep your exclamation points under control.
Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
4. You have to pay your dues. It doesn't matter how talented you are if you don't do the legwork you don't get the cookie jar. If you're smart you'll learn to pace yourself, build stamina and after a while run marathons. Just don't eat too many cookies when you get there.
Turn up for work. Discipline allows creative freedom. No discipline equals no freedom. Jeanette Winterson
Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too. Isabel Allende
5. Have fun. Learn with gentle humour. Don't get all uptight and frowny. It makes you look old and tired.
Laugh as much as possible, always laugh. It's the sweetest thing one can do for oneself & one's fellow human beings. Maya Angelou
It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously. Oscar Wilde
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