I have started a book.
Maybe it's really a novella, or several long creative articles or essays. Maybe I'll share the first part soon. Maybe this week. Maybe I'll share the whole thing over the course of consecutive web log posts simply because I like creating for the people I know... and when the time comes to get compensated for the creative process... well, I'll know when the time has come to pursue such things.
I'm reading a collection of letters from one of my first writing heroes, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Here's what he thinks about the gold rush that grips young authors:
And the hell with it. Write a book.
Once again, that's what I'm doing. I'm writing a lot. Sometimes it's fun and sometimes it's annoying. I'm deciphering the past, trying to transform it into a useful experience that provides the reader with inspiration, pleasure and direction. The world put me on a roller-coaster ride to see itself through the unique perspective of my eyes, so now my duty is to make something from that and share it with humans to make them feel more magic.
I've covered my walls with inspirational quotes, pictures worth well more than 1000 words, and road maps from journey's past. That part has been really fun. It's great to finally have a room of my own. Then again, I can't get away with being in my room without seeing a reminder that the creative process is continuous. The only solution is to create or get out of the house, both of which are highly productive and enjoyable options.
I'm also re-reading lots of guidance from past "magical helpers" who directed me on my journeys.
My most recent literary helper is Henry Miller.
From Tropic of Capricorn:
"I come back to the word 'creative'. I am sure that the whole mystery lies in the realization of the meaning of this word. When I think of the book now, and the way I approached it, I think of a man going through the rites of initiation. The disorientation and reorientation which comes with the initiation into any mystery is the most wonderful experience which it is possible to have. Everything which the brain has labored for a lifetime to assimilate, categorize and synthesize has to be taken apart and reordered. Moving day for the soul! And of course it's not for a day, but for weeks and months that this goes on. You move on, to new fields of battle, to new triumphs or defeats. But you move! And as you move the world moves with you, with terrifying exactitude."
That's all for today.
Don't forget: THE GOAL IS ENTHUSIASM
Maybe it's really a novella, or several long creative articles or essays. Maybe I'll share the first part soon. Maybe this week. Maybe I'll share the whole thing over the course of consecutive web log posts simply because I like creating for the people I know... and when the time comes to get compensated for the creative process... well, I'll know when the time has come to pursue such things.
I'm reading a collection of letters from one of my first writing heroes, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Here's what he thinks about the gold rush that grips young authors:
Thinking about money games now will simply f*** you up. Concentrate on creative games. That’s your job. If your book makes a lot of money, which
really good books usually don’t, you will get that money as it is earned—in
straight royalties.
Once again, that's what I'm doing. I'm writing a lot. Sometimes it's fun and sometimes it's annoying. I'm deciphering the past, trying to transform it into a useful experience that provides the reader with inspiration, pleasure and direction. The world put me on a roller-coaster ride to see itself through the unique perspective of my eyes, so now my duty is to make something from that and share it with humans to make them feel more magic.
I've covered my walls with inspirational quotes, pictures worth well more than 1000 words, and road maps from journey's past. That part has been really fun. It's great to finally have a room of my own. Then again, I can't get away with being in my room without seeing a reminder that the creative process is continuous. The only solution is to create or get out of the house, both of which are highly productive and enjoyable options.
I'm also re-reading lots of guidance from past "magical helpers" who directed me on my journeys.
My most recent literary helper is Henry Miller.
From Tropic of Capricorn:
"I come back to the word 'creative'. I am sure that the whole mystery lies in the realization of the meaning of this word. When I think of the book now, and the way I approached it, I think of a man going through the rites of initiation. The disorientation and reorientation which comes with the initiation into any mystery is the most wonderful experience which it is possible to have. Everything which the brain has labored for a lifetime to assimilate, categorize and synthesize has to be taken apart and reordered. Moving day for the soul! And of course it's not for a day, but for weeks and months that this goes on. You move on, to new fields of battle, to new triumphs or defeats. But you move! And as you move the world moves with you, with terrifying exactitude."
That's all for today.
Don't forget: THE GOAL IS ENTHUSIASM
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