Which One are You?
'I take a certain amount of pride in not being a professional novelist, in apparently being a lifelong amateur. I don't want to be slick.' Jonathan Franzen
This quote touched a nerve this week. I've always believed and still do that I'm a 'Writer in Progress'. I doubt if I'll ever truly learn the full craft of writing, because a little like life, I think that there is always something to learn. Even in these dark winter months (for some of us anyway) when if feels like the muse will never return, if indeed it was ever present, I still learn about writing. Whether it be a tiny point, like when to use an apostrophe (though I fear I will never get that one cracked) or writing that perfect synopsis, there is always another way. This week I have learnt the true value of dialogue for moving a story on. I experimented with writing a piece which was mainly monologue, inner thoughts, and it showed so clearly how difficult that is. The point of fact is we don't really live our lives through our thoughts, there has to be some interaction to move things on. If I were more literary, maybe it would be different. But I'm not, I'm just a jobbing writer, so I'll stick to what I know works and put what I've learnt into practice.
So I'm happy to be a lifelong amateur for what would there be for me if I knew it all?
Don't Think Just Write
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