Never Surrender the Pen

When smashing your big toe into the much larger universe of critics galore, it can be easy to give up and walk away. PLOW AHEAD. Planting a field of corn yields a crop, mowing your grass just looks good. Any baby should be a loved baby. Don’t stick your baby on the shelf and hope she feeds herself. No human heart may grieve for poems never written, the stories never told, but the world is a sadder, colder place for their lack. For the moment forget the New York Times best seller list. The reason to write is because you want to write. First, be happy with what you’re doing.

Person “a” liked what you wrote (feel good for a few minutes), but person “b” didn't like it (now feel bad for a few minutes). Rinse, wash, and repeat. Congratulate yourself. Beat yourself up. The inner critic wields the power of a French executioner about to let the guillotine fall. Stop the murder!

Take a deep breath. Exhale. Empty your mind, grab a hold of your socks, take whatever good you can from what's been said and RUN HOG WILD AHEAD. No telling what might happen.

Write what comes first to your mind. Let the movie of real life, memories, books, plots by the billions burn through your soul. Every problem, every stress, every photograph, every feeling- tells a story ready to be transported by an artist of the word into any genre. When plagued by self debt grab the toothbrush of free association, and scrub for all your worth! Clarity, character refinement, plot touchup, rearrangement, and grammar can always come later.

Any writing can be garbage, but once in awhile THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS. Buy a ticket on the train named “Hard Work”. Take the risk.

Welcome to a different sort of fellowship. You are not alone. We both belong to a fraternity and sorority defined by those who want to WRITE. Need to write. Will write, eventually, anyway, no matter what’s been said already. The initiation ritual is fairly pleasant and it doesn’t involve alcohol, rubber ducks, or stealing bathtubs.

A moment to recap the point of it all: PLOW AHEAD and RUN HOG WILD AHEAD. THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS so WRITE.