Why Write?
September 1st 2006 08:49
it’s a good question, though it might seems a little obvious. I’ve read the thoughts of a lot of people about this, and have tried to figure out why I must do it too. Hopefully there’ll be an answer here for you.
Writers are lucky. Whatever the mood, no matter the longing, the writer can use his words to connect himself to any world he wishes to visit.
Alan Zweibel from "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story."
A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
Thomas Mann
Write without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.
Mark Twain
Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.
Norman Mailer
All those guys make sense. And they should know. Except for the giving up after three years part. These days, it may take a little longer.
You must want to tell stories. Real or make believe, they must burn in you to come out.
Make visible what, without you, might never have been seen.
Robert Bresson
Don’t tell me it’s the money. The lack of it early on soaks up however much you make later. And if you’re only in it for the money, you may as well sell your soul instead, it’ll be about the same.
Don't you know the finest things in the world have been written on an empty stomach?
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman, Jr., "Sunset Boulevard"
But if you’re serious, you can’t do what a lot of people do – sit and talk about how they’re going to do it. It has to happen. There are too many people out there already carrying around the Great Unwritten in their head. Don’t be one of them.
The only certainty about writing and trying to be a writer is that it has to be done, not dreamed of or planned and never written, or talked about (the ego eventually falls apart like a soaked sponge), but simply written; it's a dreadful, awful fact that writing is like any other work.
Janet Frame
The story has to come form within, and then you have to persist until it’s done. Some people won’t get what you’re doing, or understand the process of writing.
What's all this business of being a writer? It's just putting one word after another.
Irving Thalberg
And there will be rejection, but think of the company!:
It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.
Rejection slip for George Orwell's ''Animal Farm''
The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ''curiosity'' level.
Rejection slip for ''The Diary of Anne Frank
And some days will be hard, but as long as you keep it in perspective, you’ll win through.
I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
Peter De Vries
Australis
Writers are lucky. Whatever the mood, no matter the longing, the writer can use his words to connect himself to any world he wishes to visit.
Alan Zweibel from "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story."
A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
Thomas Mann
Write without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.
Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.
Norman Mailer
All those guys make sense. And they should know. Except for the giving up after three years part. These days, it may take a little longer.
You must want to tell stories. Real or make believe, they must burn in you to come out.
Make visible what, without you, might never have been seen.
Robert Bresson
Don’t tell me it’s the money. The lack of it early on soaks up however much you make later. And if you’re only in it for the money, you may as well sell your soul instead, it’ll be about the same.
Don't you know the finest things in the world have been written on an empty stomach?
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman, Jr., "Sunset Boulevard"
But if you’re serious, you can’t do what a lot of people do – sit and talk about how they’re going to do it. It has to happen. There are too many people out there already carrying around the Great Unwritten in their head. Don’t be one of them.
The only certainty about writing and trying to be a writer is that it has to be done, not dreamed of or planned and never written, or talked about (the ego eventually falls apart like a soaked sponge), but simply written; it's a dreadful, awful fact that writing is like any other work.
Janet Frame
The story has to come form within, and then you have to persist until it’s done. Some people won’t get what you’re doing, or understand the process of writing.
What's all this business of being a writer? It's just putting one word after another.
Irving Thalberg
And there will be rejection, but think of the company!:
It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.
Rejection slip for George Orwell's ''Animal Farm''
The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ''curiosity'' level.
Rejection slip for ''The Diary of Anne Frank
And some days will be hard, but as long as you keep it in perspective, you’ll win through.
I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
Peter De Vries
Australis
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
"You must want to tell stories. Real or make believe, they must burn in you to come out."
Is writing essentially about telling stories?
Comment by Australis
The Scriptwriting Blog
Personal Blog - A Writer's Life
All of us at one time or another burn to share what we've seen or learnt. Which is why we're here (at Orble). I've seen your blog, and am impressed with its depth and, yes, passion, and at some near point, when time allows, I hope to devote more time to it. You're just telling a different kind of story, about who we are, as a community and as individuals. To be honest, I never got that much out of philosophy, until now. Good work, you!
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
I think that perhaps this is just a discussion over how to use words. I think we're circling around how to use the word "story".
If you had written "You must want to express. Real or make believe, it must burn in you to come out", I would have found that less troubling.
Comment by Australis
The Scriptwriting Blog
Personal Blog - A Writer's Life
But I would add that while the passion is upon us we like to include a change of pitch in our voice, hand actions, and the more passionate we get, the closer we get to acting. And we can act out a non-fiction story just as much as a fiction one.
It is the story driving the teller, from the most verbal of us shaping words for a living, to the most inarticulate teenager getting out the story of a cool movie he saw at the weekend, or the drama he witnessed at a sporting event or party or skate park.