Monday, June 9, 2014

MINDING OUR BUSINESS

Are you a writer?
Me too.
And aren’t we writers always stressing…
About the stresses of writing?
But I believe our angst about being a writer…
Is more than just putting words down…
With pen or pixel…
I believe it’s because we…
Like the characters we create…
Are not one-dimensional…
There’s more to who we are…
Than being just a writer.
We're also storytellers…
Who think up plots and create worlds …
That never existed before.
And I can tell you that not everyone…
Was born with the gift of storytelling…
As I’ve had the unfortunate experience…
Of sitting next to many bores at a party.
And also within us…
Is another dimensional aspect…
That not everyone can claim…
It’s that illusive little muse…
Who lives in our thoughts…
And comes up with all our great ideas.
And makes an entrance at will…
Just never our will…
And we’re always left wondering…
When in the hell will he/she show up?
So to the writer dimension of you…
Let me now ask…
While there are books, workshops,
Conferences, critique groups, and editors…
For you to master your craft…
Who or what is there…
For you, the storyteller?
For your muse?
Where do you go…
Or what do you do…
To stoke those fires?
And I guess if I could put yet another spin…
On this topic…
I’d say that we, writers…
Have learned to integrate...
Our body, mind, and spirit…
That would make any new-ager envious.
The body being – the writer…
The mind being – the storyteller…
And the spirit being – the muse.
So tell me…
Do you see yourself as three-dimensional?
Or maybe even multi-dimensional?
And how do you honor…
Those other aspects of all that it takes…
To be a writer?  


Always, Em-Musing

14 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'd like to be four dimensional so I can teleport.
Some people just can't tell a good story.

Linda N.J. Szymanski said...

Great thoughts here! I, too, am a writer. I call myself that not because it has been confirmed by publication, but because I had a story to tell, inspired by my love to history and intrigue and the inevitable tale that sprung from a diary's pages. The story simply had to be told! I think the creative muse is ever-present in the mind of a writer, not unlike the unconscious and endless compositions that a photographer sees all around her or a bag of 8 simple notes that can be dumped out like Scrabble tiles to form a new melody. Art is by its nature unpredictable, like a summer storm that suddenly turns into a furious rage or simply drifts away one rain drop at a time. So stories are born of a writer's love of the tale and the license to create a world yet to be explored. To be sure, it is a hopeless
addiction to the seduction of endless possibilities!

Blueduck1 said...

Andrew from Rio laments..

It's odd at 63 I recently took up golf and writing talk about masochist tendencies!! There is an analogy here! Both need practice, both need concentration, both need focus! As in my writing thoughts, every stroke, every hole, every course, is different each experience presents a new challenge ! As in both instruction is enlightening, to par any golf course for me would be as if I was published. get through all the pain at all the ridicule I find both of these to be enlightening...

Barbara Watson said...

Writers must be multi-dimensional, I think, in order to create. Reading helps my writing most.

Anonymous said...

For me, keeping a collection of motivational quotes (like "let go or be dragged" or "happiness is a way of travel not destination") has always helped my writing. For some reason, they always seem to inspire a plot, and then more and more quotes keep weaving their way in. And when all else fails: music. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

If we're not multi-dimensional, then our stories won't be either.

Green Monkey said...

I only write non-fiction but for me, I try to walk into each day with eyes open, looking for things to wow me. this morning, it was the sound of birds that hide in the thick greenery of "bunny lane" Reading sometimes stifles my writing because I'll compare and I always come out on the bottom. I try to remember that it is our unique voice that is important.

Misha Gerrick said...

I also see myself as three dimensional.

As for how I honor that, I also accept that I'm an artist that paints with words. And that I am allowed to use other media too. So whenever the muse seems absent, I work on something else like painting or needlepointing.

:-)

Arlee Bird said...

Just wondering if you are still out there--somewhere.

Have missed you!

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out

Elizabeth Mueller said...

The very essence of being a writer. What a thoughtful post. I've missed you!!

Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Leigh, just wanted to let you know that you are missed!

Misha Gerrick said...

Hey Leigh,

Just stopped by to check out how you're doing, and found your blog so quiet. I hope you're okay.

Drop me a line if you have time!

mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Misha

Karen Baldwin said...

Thank you all for you comments

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