Comments on: How I Know I’m a Writer

By: David B. Coe

David B. Coe — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:04:24 +0000

Thanks for the great comment, Amira. Glad to provide the reminder. At times I need it, too. I’ve just handed in a book and am actually looking forward to a few weeks of NOT writing. Then I’ll need to get back to it, of course. But now and then resting is good, too.

Best of luck with all your projects.

By: Amira

Amira — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:42:51 +0000

So, I was web wandering.. because at the moment the pile of notebooks looks too intimidating, The readback was several minutes “How the hell did I write myself into that corner?”, and the list of “Other writing projects,” the ones I keep near at hand when the novel starts eating my brain, is a little higher and scarier than I want it to be right now. The cat tried to help. Really. But I doubt I can sell eighteen pages of “hwhdwehhqehfiefcedujciveufgjuireuiw” Besides, mention “Royalties” around a cat and they get completely the wrong image.

So then there’s this article that reminds me why I’m doing this. Because I have to. Because it doesn’t matter if it sells or not. Because there’s words and scenes and images in my head that will die if I don’t give them some kind of permanency. Because some days, it may not matter WHAT I write, but every day it matters THAT I write.

Man, why couldn’t I fall in love with something less stressful? Like Drag Boat Racing?

Thanks for the reminder. Now back to pushing keys.

By: David B. Coe

David B. Coe — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:26:02 +0000

Uli, I think that’s a great point. All the people I know who love their work feel that way — that they can do it any day, good or bad. Writing for me, programming for you, teaching and doing research for my wife, etc. Great comment. Thanks.

By: Uli Kusterer

Uli Kusterer — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:11:51 +0000

Funnily, I think this can be extended to pretty much every job. It’s how I decided to become a programmer. I sat down, thinking about all the things I would want to do in my life, and then it struck me that, even on a bad day, I would still want to sit down and work on a program:

Figure out the correct behaviour of a complex task, ponder how my users would use my program, fiddle with drawing code to get the look just right, work out how to do the same thing differently, so it will be faster. Programming is like inventing how to weave a carpet *as you build the carpet*.

When I thought about becoming a graphic designer, or a tech writer, or a novelist, or a theatre actor (all things I still do, some as part of my job, others as hobbies that eat up way too much time), I realized that I couldn’t do them on a bad day, or I wouldn’t be able to do them every day, over and over again, without getting terribly depressed.

It’s the measure of whether you have the right job: Can you do it on a bad day?

By: David B. Coe

David B. Coe — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:53:08 +0000

Rita and Carol — apologies. Your posts were a bit slow getting through the filter, so I didn’t see them when I responded earlier.

Rita, thank you for the link. I’ve done the slash and burn; we all have. And painful though it is, it usually leads to a better book in the long run. Best of luck with it!

Carol, no need to apologize! If I could take time to write in a spot like that, I would. But as you point out, that’s not the norm. We have to have our sources, our references, our notes, access to the internet, etc., and that’s why that commercial was so silly. And yes, you are in good company. Thanks for the comment.

By: David B. Coe

David B. Coe — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:38:24 +0000

Thanks, Mark.

By: Carol J. Garvin

Carol J. Garvin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:22:02 +0000

I remember that ad… and I hate to admit I’ve been known to sit with my laptop on the lakeshore (we don’t have a dock) in front of our remote summer cabin, listening to the loons and writing my way through the afternoon’s stillness. Sorry about that!

But of course that isn’t my daily norm; the workday chaos is. It’s nice to hear that the day to day desire to ignore everything else in favour of wrenching words from within puts me in good company with other writers.

By: Kenneth Mark Hoover

Kenneth Mark Hoover — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:21:41 +0000

Very good article!

By: David B. Coe

David B. Coe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:45:38 +0000

Yeah, I don’t have the same access to lakeside luxury either, Malcolm. Because, well, I’m a writer…. Thanks for the comment.

Andy, I have the exact same experience. When I feel that what I’m doing is transcribing conversations, listening to my characters rather than telling them what to say, I know that the book has come alive. There is nothing cooler for me than having my characters surprise me with their words and deeds. It can take time to get there, but it’s always worth the wait. Good luck with your WIP.

By: Andy Duggan

Andy Duggan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:32:22 +0000

My work-in-progress is definitely at the stage where I’m not sure I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still don’t know the main characters as well as I need to. A story, for me, reaches critical mass when the characters feel as though they’re speaking their own lines and my job is to record faithfully what they say.

Andy