Real Writers

write everyday. They have 3-5 things in the mail, waiting and waiting for the response. They write everyday.

Real writers have pens like lincoln logs, pens they can BUILD things with. Pens that can MEND. Real writers have 3-5 things in the shoot every week, and are waiting for a response.

Real writers don't hang out in bars because they banned smoking in most of them. Real writers don't smoke anything but blue ink. The real writers are sleeping the great sleep and have 3-5 things circultation out there with postmarks, and the correct number of cents, and are waiting for the response.

Well there goes to show that I'm not a writer, yet.
Are you sure they don't get writers block, or is that only for the younger teen writers?

Angie, u make urself a writer, no one has to tell u ur not a writer or not. u write what u know. real writers are writers in themselves. u make urself a realwriter. everyone has there one style of writing and everyone can't do it the same as others. so yea u r a realwriter😉

Real writers have meaning slung around their waist, belted with straps of shoelace. Real writers write everyday, but don't always have anything to say. The writers sometimes just sit, smoking the blue ink by the blue window through the curtain and smile. Real writers have special wooden desks with special perfect paper. Real writers have time to seal envelopes, stick them in the outgoing box and wait for the response.

Real writers never have writers block or trip over words. They have a million ways to say how sorry they are and feel real good repeating themselves so many times. The writers have three or five things they think are "done" and are waiting for somebody to say "yes."

Angiemima,

These are really sort of sarcastic statements. Nothing is meant to be taken as true for everybody. I wrote this because I felt frustrated as a writer who doesn't do things 'by the book' lol

If you write, if you are dedicated to the art of the craft, you are a real writer.

Real writers have things to say. Real writers say them real fast. The real writers have silence in their eyes that speaks to blue smoke and sees through curtained windows above carefully chosen wooden desks. Real writers are listening for knocks on the door. The writers are having meeting. They are all speaking at once about three or five things and are waiting for a response.

I do write!! I've been pretty crazy passionate about it since I was 12. I majored in poetry in college and have a pretty dedicated schedule as long as work and life permit. It is a big priority in my life, I just absolutely LOVE it!

Do you write too, laydbak?

I never feel better than when I write to get something off my chest. In fact, I hadn't used writing (seriously) as a tool for that in so long, but recently I've been very moody and anxious. I'm quitting smoking and it's bringing out all these uncontrolable feelings in me. I'm writing some of the best since I was back in college...

I love the straight-forward approach your poem takes. I can see why it scared him, but it tells the truth!! It's awesome!

"And the proper proportion of private reference
to public discussion
(for what secret journal is meant to be forever obscured?)"


EXACTLY. I love the journaler's of this world. They leave behind the greatest stories. And you KNOW there just has to be some intention there, beyond getting your feelings out.

"ps. Erotic writing / sex stories is not real writing."

i would have to digress. There are some fantastic erotica authors out there and is a whole genre unto itself. It not only takes a certain imagination, but much refreshing boldness, freedom and autonomy.

I LOVE THAT POEM ms. pisces! Thanks!


the point is all writing that is true to its intent and focused on craft is real writing.

There is smut in all genres, including poetry, including non-fiction, including song writing. There are true gems in all genres, including erotic writing.

Some have more true gems than others...

Genres like erotic writing - romance, mystery, and science fiction tend to teem with authors who may have good intent but are also getting a hefty paycheck of the pop-culture variety of fiction they offer. I believe many of these writers are devoted more to that paycheck than the craft.

Please don't assume I'm speaking about ALL of them, this is a generalized statement that realizes itself.

muse - i like what you say. i have a degree in english lit. i have written since i was 17, now 31 and i always go through periods of self doubt, especially when i feel inspiration has deserted me. to borrow a few of your words... "a real writer" knows that it is not by inspiration alone that brings the words, but the effort it takes to sit with pen and paper and write crap or stare at the keyboard before you freewriting what will not last beyond the day. there are people who write as a hobby. many of them. i think everyone in the world [slight exaggeration maybe *tongue in cheek*] will call themselves a writer. but not everyone is a writer. to write is to realize that it's not always a euphoric experience, it can be a mindnumbing, nailbiting, teethgrinding, hairpulling experience. i was a part of a writing group that was comprised of "real writers" and those who acknowledged it as nothign more than a hobby for them. sure, everyone can call themselves writers, but i do believe the term is applied too liberally, just like literature because not all books out there are what i would consider true literature.

in the Spirit be blessed

Learus, there are some who argue that writer's block doesn't exist. i say it does and it's mental. the best advice i was given was to just write. freewrite and don't concern yourself about trying to be perfect or say the right thing or grammar, just write. all you have to do is grab a pen, paper and write. sit at your keyboard and write. it doesnt' matter. i think we can focus too much on writing the perfect thing the first time around and we fail to realize that writing is work. even the best wrote and re-wrote their work - not just novels, short stories or essays, but poetry as well. setting a goal of writing for 15 minutes a day for a month really helps, you'll be surprised. even half a month would be good. the writing group i belonged to did that once a year and we didn't focus on anything, just sat down and wrote freely for 15 minutes, even if it was nothing more than a complaint of how we didn't want to be doing it! but it does help get your mind in the "writing" [thinking] mode. tell me how it goes! 🙂

i think that's where you're going wrong Learus. you're trying to ORGANIZE it. when you freewrite it's not writing that should be anything you're working on. it shouldn't even be trying to re-work something already written. consider what you may have done in high school or junior high [and this is assuming you're out of school! im bold with my assumption huh 🙂] when you were told to sit quietly and write for 10 minutes about whatever, nothing of importance, and maybe the teacher collected it and maybe the teacher didn't, but you can be sure the teacher trashed them because they would have not been something that would eventually be a part of an essay for class. don't sit down with the thought that you NEED to write or WANT to have to put something significant on paper [or on the computer screen]

you said it best here -

"I think it (writing) works best for me when I don't have the pressure of knowing I have to meet a deadline... and when I don't have a specific topic to write on (if that makes any sense)."


that's what freewriting is - having no topic to write on, having no pressure to write or finish something, but just sitting down and writing about whatever comes to your mind. if you write about your day, so what. if you write about that person that ticked you off at work, so what. if your writing is filled with curse words, so what. it's just the write itself that is important. it's the "sitting down and just writing, even if it's nothingness" that's important. like you said, sometimes it's jumbled thoughts on paper, that's okay!! it's a freewrite so it should be jumbled thoughts, random thoughts, there won't always be clarity or even steamlined thought and and that's okay. you know what i do. we'd freewrite, like i said earlier, 30 days for 15 minutes a day. at the end of my 30 days sometimes i'd go back because maybe, just maybe, there was something [even if it's just one something] from those 30 days of freewriting that can be turned into something new or added to something old. and if there's not, i don't fret because the process has served it's purpose. it has gotten me to write and now its just a matter of keeping with it and if i hit another slump, i just start journaling or freewriting again

for the purpose of freewriting yea. it's not something that requires thought. just let the pen go and let your thoughts flow. and try to do it at least 15 minutes for 10 days. just don't let it be a means to get through something your working on. let it be a 'pass' you're giving yourself from trying to write the perfect thing. when you're writing or working on a piece of work then yes organization is important but this writing is freewriting. tell me how it goes, i'd like to know.