This post is the second assignment for my English Composition I class. It is a scenario in which I discuss and share writing processes with three professional authors. Who all have defined their own routines and mantras that allow them to fight through the phase when their hands struggle to put down what their mind tells them. My eyelids rose quickly as my irises exposed themselves to a currently hazy world. My mind struggling to piece together what was going on as I looked around in a daze not realizing I had fallen asleep. What had awoken me so abruptly was the noise of an obnoxiously loud horn followed by the intense vibrations of rattling metal as it zoomed pass my living room window. As I watched this colossal machinery pass by me in a matter of seconds I realized that I had been saved from my nightmare by the train that comes by during the afternoon hours. I watched and exhaled a sigh of relief as its passing then unveiled a setting sun painting the horizon a mix of soothing colors. The pink cascading into the orange as they merged the more the sun sank beyond the earth. It was with this in mind I was sure, I truly was awake. The more I sat there collecting myself I started to remember what it was I had been doing before passing out from exhaustion from today’s job. Like always I had been sitting in my living room, a pen in my hand and a crisp piece of paper laid out before me. Music playing on my cell phone which was placed to the side as I attempted to write out my thoughts and continue to work on a book I had been trying to publish but every form of writing I tried failed. Every time my pen touched the blank canvas it would only end how it started. Empty, and the only words being blurted out would be me constantly cursing and berating myself. This only built on the stress inside me strengthening the block that prevented me from putting anything down. With no other recourse I retreated from my home to a bar not too far from where I lived. Puddles laid about the city streets were enough to tell me that during my rest it had rained. I guess the sky was sharing a few woes with me as well. As I pushed the door open I was rushed with an overwhelming volume of smoke. I walked through the bar painted with figures all draped over their cups, all who were having loud discussions that could be heard from halfway across the room. The only place that seemed tame ironically was the center of the establishment, the counter where the drinks were served. So I decided to take a seat there. After sitting down and ordering a drink of my own I overheard some people talking next to me. They sounded like writers who were very deep into their craft. One male posed a question to another about the importance of a writing ritual. Without even thinking I ended up replying instead. “Lately, I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the way I go into my writing too..” before I had realized what I’d said, the man whom the question was intended turned toward me and said, “Join the club.”.[1] When he fully exposed his face to me I recognized the man as none other than Don Murray. After receiving an invitation from a professional writer how could I refuse? So I decided to share. “Usually I sit at my living room coffee table. It’s pretty low so I’m on my knees which makes me more relaxed. Before I start I put on some soothing music to loosen myself up.” I finished before taking a light sip of the cup before me. The one who was posing the question earlier, a man I came to find out was named, Elwyn Brooks White, replied to my scenario of writing. Before he started speaking however I could see the intrigue in his eyes. But I couldn’t tell if he was about to pick me apart or actually surprise me. "I never listen to music when I’m working. I haven’t that kind of attentiveness, and I wouldn’t like it at all."[2] he finished, his arms folded while leaning forward as he stared down at the counter before him. As he was speaking I could see his eyes gain a sense of imagining, as if he were trying to put himself in my place to get an idea of what my form was like. Then the woman, Susan Sontag, who was with them added her piece in, "I write in spurts. I write when I have to because the pressure builds up and I feel enough confidence that something has matured in my head and I can write it down."[3] she finished speaking before lifting a cigarette into her mouth. As she inhaled the intoxicants I watched the end protruding from her mouth light up brightly. Then it finally dawned on me, I was in the presence of three professional writers, a truly once in a lifetime chance. It felt like this meeting was fated. Before I knew it I had this compelled feeling to ask further questions to reap every reward I could from this encounter. Maybe whatever they did could help me get out the slump I was in. “How do you guys approach writer's block? Do you just wait it out, force something out or maybe change from pen to keyboard? I know that typing things out is a faster process so is it possible that it adds a level of ease more than the pen?” I asked the three of them. Don Murray huffed out a disappointing sigh as if the thought of using a keyboard was somehow less than the traditional way of using the pen. “Be patient, listen quietly, the writing will come. The voice of the writing will tell you what to do.”[4] he shared his opinion on the matter. Immediately after, Susan Sontag also spoke. "I like the slowness of writing by hand. Then I type it up and scrawl all over that. And keep on retyping it, each time making corrections both by hand and directly on the typewriter, until I don’t see how to make it any better."[5] she paused before tossing back a quick sip of her drink before continuing what it was she was saying. "After the second or third draft it goes into the computer, so I don’t retype the whole manuscript anymore, but continue to revise by hand on a succession of hard-copy drafts from the computer."[6] she concluded before resting back into her chair. Her sharing added some clarity to me, it didn’t matter which form I chose to take. The process of approach should be either shared or the same. Choosing one over the other wouldn’t make either easier or faster. Looking down at the counter my voice rose again, “Maybe it isn’t the way I write then. I guess I could always look for a better place to give new life to my writing.” I mentioned only in reference to myself about my problem earlier. E. B. White looked to me with a stern look on his face before saying, "A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."[7]. He then continued to describe the place in which he writes, "There’s a lot of traffic. But it’s a bright, cheerful room, and I often use it as a room to write in, despite the carnival that is going on all around me.”[8]. I understood his words but then I had one last question. “So if just that easy what do you do when you finally get something down, but then it didn’t turn out how you’d expect? What if you then get stuck in a repeated process of writing, erasing and writing again?” That was when Don Murray shared a few parting words to me, “Don’t look back. Yes, the draft needs fixing. But first it needs writing"[9]. So my night had ended there and I returned to my pen to release the things pent up inside me on the paper that waited for me. My biggest takeaways from my encounter with Don Murray, E. B. White and Susan Sontag was that the form of writing isn’t as much important as the mind used to approach it. Not everything requires a ritual or even a setting that perfects your mood. You simply need to let your mind free and let the finger that grips the pen come to life. Writing isn’t something that you can force or just create on a whim, and surely it’s never perfect on the first round. [1] - Quote by Don Murray excerpted from Lessons From America's Greatest Writing Teacher (Don Murray) [2] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (E. B. White) [3] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) [4] - Quote by Don Murray excerpted from Lessons From America's Greatest Writing Teacher (Don Murray) [5] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) [6] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) [7] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (E. B. White) [8] - Quote by Susan Sontag excerpted from The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (E. B. White) [9] - Quote by Don Murray excerpted from Lessons From America's Greatest Writing Teacher (Don Murray)
1 Comment
Nicole Strasinski
9/11/2018 09:44:35 am
Green tea is my favorite as well. I liked how detailed you got in this though it helps give a sense of who you are just by reading this blog.
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QaadirOn this site, I plan to express myself. So feel free to read the stampede of text, but never get the idea my blog's the best. Archives
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