Zest and Gusto

As I mentioned in a recent post about writing, I mentioned that I was on my way to order Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing. It just came in, and I’m savoring my way through through every chapter. I’m going to make an attempt to summarize each chapter because he has some great nuggets of wisdom that are worth repeating, nay, YELLING from the mountain tops.

Even his preface speaks volumes in a couple of sentence. When he answers the question “What does writing teach us?” he has this to say :

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“...it reminds us that we are alive and that is a gift and a privilege, not a right. We must earn life once it has been awarded to us. Life asks for rewards back because it has favored us with animation.“

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Boom!

Chapter one is simply called “The joy of writing.” He urges writers to, more than anything, be true to yourself. If you are following the latest trends, have your eye only on what is deemed commercially successful, or try too hard to be the next avant-garde sensation, you are half a writer.

Let your passion take you where it will. What do you love? What do you hate? It doesn’t have to be something grand. Start small, write about that pair of jeans you wanted so badly as a kid. Or the bratty older sibling that teased you. Create a character much like yourself and let them run. They will catch fire and heat up your computer thirty degrees because they are you and you are breathing life into them with zest and gusto.

If you aren’t loving the story, if it becomes a chore to write, start over. You aren’t writing what you really love or hate. Sometimes we find that we love or hate things because we are so influenced by those around us. For many years, I found poetry to be an irritant. Pointless drivel with no rules!

Why? Most likely because I wasn’t around anyone who liked it. I’m sure I was also forced to write poetry in high school and what teenager wants creativity forced on them?

Anyway, I few weeks ago, I took a plunge. I had some words rattling around in my head and I spit them out. Wala – poetry. It’s not great, but that’s ok. It doesn’t have to be. The important thing is that I’m writing, and through that, I’m rewarding life itself for the gift of my animation.