A Writers Vision

I have a vision of a writer. It is a dream like vision that fluctuates with the movement of the clouds; on a dark windswept night, when the rain drops are so heavy that you can see each fall individually past the light of the lamppost; the writer is frantic; an Einstein like character, working obsessively, words falling from the finger tips. By morning, the storm has passed; the writer is composing at the sort of desk an Edwardian lady, having inspired a range of Laura Ashley furnishing is now writing at, with a fountain pen, in a beautiful note book. It is a balmy summer evening, the writer smokes, drinks, paces the floor, searches for the right word, whilst a neon motel sign flickers on the study wall.

Illustrated by http://andyartisand.carbonmade.com/

The writer is a mysterious thing, elusive, reserved, inaccessible; Oh to penetrate the writers deepest thoughts.

Give me one glass of white wine and I will tell you my elusive, mysterious thoughts. I will talk to anybody about anything; things that actually happened, which I always prelude with “That actually happened” as though every other word was a lie, and things that sort of happened but not quite in the way I described, which of course is the writers gift, it’s the story tellers way.

I may have failed to achieve the writer image; of one consumed with a passion that only the written word can express. I have read a wealth of books, articles and blog posts of writer’s tips; the most reoccurring of which is to develop discipline; a Jedi like commitment to work, a Fame costs and right here is where you start paying; determination towards my craft; an attitude in conflict with my Einstein vision.  Someone somewhere wrote that you should treat each word as though you would be charged for its use; this, paired with regular committed writing has been the best advice I have received. I have no idea if this blog is increasing my readership and will enable me to break through. I do know that my commitment to write this every week, has instilled a level of discipline I have not previously known and that to limit myself to a word count of 500 words* has helped with that discipline, that ability to choose the right word; as well as provide a good excuse for the pacing of floors and drinking.

I find it close to impossible to impose a word count on my student’s essays, and emphasize constantly that I require concise work, not repetition or a plumping out of the words, I just want to know what they have to tell me, and I don’t have all day.

The truth is you need one eye on the word count and the other on the words. This is certainly working for me and now I feel somewhat lost without a word count, fortunately this blog allows me to share while I practice. Hopefully you enjoy the practice and perhaps you will see the difference it makes.

*504 words in total.