I don’t even remember when it was the last day I posted on this thing. Every so often, I stop by my blog and read over the things I have written. It’s during those same times that I wonder if I’m actually any good at writing. I sit in my chair and ask myself if anything I’ve posted on here is actually worth reading. Will anyone actually care about what my thoughts are. But then, just as many times as I ask myself those questions, I always find the answer.
A friend of mine told me the other day that he decided he wanted to become “internet famous”. Immediately, I wondered if he was going to do something insane and post it on Youtube. Thankfully, he doesn’t want to become famous by doing something embarrassing, but he does want to do something.
I suggested to him that because he was so opinionated, the best thing for him to do would be to start a blog and let people read those opinions for themselves. But in the two days that I’ve been telling him and encouraging him to do something with his sudden burst of energy, I didn’t stop to even think if maybe this was a sign to me.
When decided to pick up a pen and put down all the ideas I had in my head on paper, I knew that I was doing this for a reason that I could not understand. There was something inside of me that needed to be placed into words and I had to get it done. It was, gosh, fifteen years ago that I started writing. That was when the urge hit me for the first time. I stayed up for an hour hand writing the opening parts to the story I am still working on to this day. It still bothers me everyday that it’s not done.
But there’s something about fame that not any people often stop to think about. Do you want to be famous or do you just want to be remembered?
There are moments in life when as we’re growing up, we do something that other people are wowed by and for those few moments we are famous. We have done something in the moment that people have in the forefront of their minds and will remember you. But a majority of those times, they’re not incredibly momentous. We’re popular for a day or so, but when the next incredible thing happens, we’re easily dismissed. There go your fifteen minutes of fame.
There are rules when you start doing what I do and what I love to do. Writers who are truly writers aren’t writing for the money. Writers write in the hopes that they will be remembered. A story, a speech, a script, a play, they’re all creations of writers that they hope will be used to make them not only famous once they’re out, but will live on the memories of the people who read or saw those stories.
On top of not writing for the money, you have to be writing knowing that there is a chance that people will not like what you wrote and you might get turned down. And that’s fine. Not every story is going to be one that people are going to want to read. It’s the job of the writer to put the effort into his craft to get people to read his creation. The problem in the world today is that we are infested with writers. People who aren’t writers by trade or by talent. They just have something to say and just want a place to say it. That’s fine, but don’t expect every Tom, Dick, and Harry to stop and listen to you. Originality is key. The same rant told the same way by a 100 different people is boring after the second interpretation.
If you’re going to write and your determination is to do something, then write because you know you can write and not because you’re trying to impress anyone. Writers are people who are tormented by the stories in their minds that they just cannot keep locked away. When you write, write for yourself. Write as if you are the only one that you have to entertain with you creation. If you’re entertained then you’ve done well and someone else might feel the same way. But if someone waves a dollar in your face and tells you they want a story done and done yesterday, than you are no longer a writer. You’re just a living, breathing, dictionary and thesaurus. Sure, you can put words together into a story, doesn’t mean it’ll be any good. It doesn’t mean people will want to read the next part of your story after the first one.
I will always remember the advice of the teacher whom I have mentioned in a previous blog. It takes years to become a writer and even then there is no guarantee that you’ll ever be one.
So now that I’ve reminded myself of the rules of writing and talking about what makes a writer, I do now understand what I feel every time I re-read something I’ve written. I didn’t write it because I was hoping someone else would like it. I wrote it because that is what I wanted to say. That is what I needed to say at that moment. My dream is not that what I say in this moment will make me famous for right now, but that something I’ve posted will stick with someone and they’ll pass it on to someone else who will find my work. I’m writing because the fear of not being remembered is a fear worse than death.
Until next time.
