Words Of Wisdom Or Something Like That

I am a writer. Therefore it’s only a matter of time before people begin quoting my musings on writing (*pauses to straighten invisible smoking jacket*). The only trouble I can see with this plan is that people might start asking me, directly, on the street or on the nationally-acclaimed talk show, for these said musings. That means that…how do I put this?…I will have to come up with poignant things to say right on the spot—and I am a writer, which means I’m used to cycles of five or seventeen drafts before the actual poignancy develops. When someone asks me for my most important step in the writing process, I will most likely break down in a stammer. (“Um…a snack?”)

In order to circumvent such a catastrophe, on behalf of myself and future generations, I am going to pre-emptively write down a bunch of self-spoken writerly quotations right here. Read, enjoy, make them into memes, whatever; these thoughts go out to all you writers out there. Now, without further ado, (*pauses to light invisible pipe*), let us begin.

·         “A writer’s job is to make the readers dance over the pages; then, when they’re absorbed in the rhythm, melody, and atmosphere, to steer them off a cliff.”

·         “Writers should endeavor to provoke thoughtful laughter; good laughter is the noise of thinking.”

·         “Be it a relationship, a state of mind, or a barrel-full of C4; in a good story, something needs to blow up.”

·         “Critics are good for your heart rate and debating skills.”

·         “When writing for kids, remember that they’re way smarter than you are.”

·         “The character is not crazy until he sees a toaster as a pair of electric mittens.” (Top that advice.)

·         “If the character is special, don’t harp on it. If the character is not special, don’t harp on it. Shut up about your character, OK? The reader will tell you if he/she/it is special or not.”

·         “Try to avoid places where your writing process will be interrup—

·          “If you’re trying to teach a lesson in your story, remember two things: One, people are stupid. Two, you are also a person.”

·         “The goal of every author should be to become his main character’s greatest enemy.”

·         “I find that if you take yourself and your writing incredibly seriously, nobody else will.”

·         “The first step in becoming a writer is everyone must think you’re crazy—including you.”

Ultimately, though, feel free to disregard all of the above. I’m not you, and (thank your lucky stars) you’re not me either. These are merely my answers to somebody asking me a hypothetical yet important-sounding question at a point in the possible future. But thanks for reading anyway. Now excuse me, I’m going to wander away so I can forget everything that I just wrote down here.

Again, I’m a writer. I write things down so I don’t have to remember them.

(Case in point: I also completely forgot to celebrate this blog's 1-year anniversary a while back.)