I’ve been reading Stephen King’s On Writing. One thing that rings true throughout the book is that he’s just a regular guy who really loves to write.
He talks about how all the things we already know about becoming a writer are true. No shortcuts. The aspiring writer has to read a lot and write even more to find success. I thought I was doing okay at 250 words, but he writes about 2,000 words a day. He writes on his Birthdays, on Christmas—and doesn’t stop unless he’s taking a break. He admits it’s work but he enjoys it.
What number does he suggest to the budding writer? 1,000. I wanted to scoff, but at that point he’d already told me about his life. He told me how he wrote some of his earlier books in the washroom of a trailer, balancing a typewriter with a mini-desk on his left leg. How he wrote the following books in a 4 room apartment while taking care of his baby daughter. I have no excuse.
His pure honesty suggests that anyone can be a writer, but it costs time and hard work. He says to blow up your television, and anything else that might be distracting you.
So what’s my ‘anti-write’? Probably video games, more than anything else. Every time I think I’m getting sick of gaming or have seen it all, those devious dev teams come up with something shiny and new and I come crawling back, thirsty for more.
Take Harmonix’s Rock Band. I never bought a game in the series (or Guitar Hero before it, or the oft forgotten Guitar Freax for that matter), but fate gave me the game and both of its sequels for free, along with 2 guitars, a drum kit, and a mic. How could I not play with all that cool free swag? Trouble is I get obsessive.
So I got pretty darn good. But now what?!? I can play the hardest songs on expert guitar, etc. But what did that really do for me? Get me Microsoft Gamer Points? Virtual numbers that will be obsolete with the advent of the next console?
My newfound skills certainly won’t be mentioned in my obit, nor will it matter in a job interview. And all that time I could have spent writing. Sigh…
Do you have an anti-write?
I imagine much like yourself, a child certainly takes most of your time, as well as work/study, and often to entertain I throw on Rock Band and we play along together, and in the evenings to relax, I will play Fable III or toss on something else just as casual – movies sneak in as I am a huge flick buff, but those take a commitment of their own. I think in the end, I have a hard time sitting still, so games keep my brain occupied, but really, why do they? As you said, for my MS gamerscore? …indeed, an irrelevant number really.
As Christmas approached for us, I find myself straying from my computer completely – the children playing on PBSkids or some Star Wars site, so what happened? Truly, I don’t know, but I know I’m further from the aspiring author I was back in August, when I started my serial, ‘May.
On a side note, I loved ‘On Writing’. A great insight into Stephen King’s world. I loved the line:
“I write every day except Christmas,” to which I believe his wife replied, “He’s lying, he even writes on Christmas.”
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Comment by Ryan G. Sanders — December 11, 2010 @ 2:40 pm
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Comment by KLCtheBookWorm — December 13, 2010 @ 11:39 am
I couldn’t say what my anti-write is, nothing comes to mind right now as a bad habit.
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Comment by packsister — January 2, 2011 @ 7:48 am
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Comment by Scion — January 19, 2011 @ 12:13 am
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes there’s places that are just perfect for art. Like, some places I’ve lived at are easier to write in than others. Sometimes there’s a little space. A private space that’s just right.
Sadly, my basement is not one of those spaces.
I hope to find that magic place again. Until then, I’ll have to keep forcing myself to write.
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — January 23, 2011 @ 10:03 pm