I watched the "women" skating in the National Finals last night. And one thing struck me. They were all skating the same program. They were competent. But there was no life in their programs, no exuberance, no joy in the music or the skating. And I thought, that's it?
Because I was remembering Elizabeth Manley skating in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. There was so much focus on Witt and Thomas at the time that Manley just went out there on the ice and had fun. I can still see her tearing across the ice, the joy on her face as she skated her heart out to capture the Silver. And I thought about writing.
I don't want to be "just" competent. I don't want to write the same stories as everyone else, or even the same story every time out. I want to have fun with my writing. I want to take the stories in directions that no one expects. Like the skaters, I know I'll fall on my butt from time to time, but I want to feel the joy of doing something from the heart, something that gives me joy, and maybe makes the reader feel like I did watching Elizabeth Manley that night. Like my heart would burst with joy right along with hers.
And yes, you have to be competent to write. You have to know the rules, how to put the sentences together into coherent paragraphs, and you have to be able to tell a story. But you also have to allow yourself the freedom to be daring and bold. To give it everything you've got, not "just enough" to win.
6 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. The more I read of people talking about "the industry" it seems that what I want to do, and how I want to do it, flies in the face of what I should be doing if I want to be successful. But making those sacrifices doesn't mean I will be that kind of "successful" so I think I'll try and err to the side of making myself happy. At least my mom will think I'm great no matter what I do, heh.
Thank God for mothers, Chris! The more I read, the more I see the same stories over and over. And I want more, both in my writing and reading. The problem is the industry wants what sells and they're afraid to take a chance on something different which makes writers afraid to stray from the course.
Every once in a while, I read James Hillman's book THE SOUL'S CODE: IN SEARCH OF CHARACTER AND CALLING. He would argue that we don't have a lot of choice in the matter of calling. I think he would say (and he's difficult to paraphrase) that our calling constantly nudges us in a life direction that fulfills the purpose we were born with.
Reaching ever deeper into our life experience, our work is guided by what we discover there that calls to us (needs to be done). I agree with Chris. Unless our calling is to write bestsellers, what "the industry" wants is beside the point.
Well, I'm definitely not writing best sellers, Ron. Many of my stories remain in computer files because they don't fit the markets, but I loved writing those stories.
I guess the problem is my imagination isn't mainstream :)
Sandra, I say, collect those stories and self-publish them. You don't need an intermediary (gate-keeper) deciding what products of your imagination are ready for their idea of the market.
I've been lucky with Snubnose Press, Ron. They're going to be publishing quite a few of those stories.
I considered self-publishing, but I'm a lousy editor and a computer nit-wit. :)
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