Behind the Scenes
The Next Step and The Whole Point
When reading the work of prodigiously–okay wildly–talented contemporaries–people like Natalie Lyalin, Heather Christle, Sabrina Orah Mark, Chelsey Minnis, Claire Becker–I tend to think first:
I love this. This is essential and beautiful.
And then at some point, my thoughts turn to my own work, and a voice says,
I can’t do anything like this.
It is all too easy to stop at that point, and stew, and–to drown out the voice–spend the next part of the day doing something that isn’t writing.
But the voice isn’t done talking.
That is going to have to be okay. There are other things I can do.
Listen to that, and return to your writing. This is the next step.
It’s not as if Chelsey Minnis can do what Sabrina Orah Mark does. It’s not as if Sabrina Orah Mark can do what Chelsey Minnis does. This is the whole point.
Tags: chelsea minnis, claire becker, Heather Christle, natalie lyalin, sabrina orah mark
Very well put.
Very well put.
Liam Clancy to Bob Dylan: “No fear, no envy, no meanness.” Sometimes hard, always worth it.
Liam Clancy to Bob Dylan: “No fear, no envy, no meanness.” Sometimes hard, always worth it.
This is something I constantly need to remind myself about that I have my own style and that it’s okay I can’t do what some of my contemporaries are doing and that I don’t have to, that I just have to write what I write. Great post, Amy.
This is something I constantly need to remind myself about that I have my own style and that it’s okay I can’t do what some of my contemporaries are doing and that I don’t have to, that I just have to write what I write. Great post, Amy.
Right on.
A (really great) writing teacher of mine, CJ Hribal, studied with Raymond Carver at Syracuse. CJ said he went through a period in his life where he felt a bit like a character in one of Carver’s stories, and, as a result, was writing Carver-esque stories.
Eventually, he said, he realized he shouldn’t write Carver stories. Carver should write Carver stories. CJ should write CJ stories.
So many writers have a similar experience– I know I have– and there’s no reason why it can’t happen more than once. It’s kind of great that it happens.
Right on.
A (really great) writing teacher of mine, CJ Hribal, studied with Raymond Carver at Syracuse. CJ said he went through a period in his life where he felt a bit like a character in one of Carver’s stories, and, as a result, was writing Carver-esque stories.
Eventually, he said, he realized he shouldn’t write Carver stories. Carver should write Carver stories. CJ should write CJ stories.
So many writers have a similar experience– I know I have– and there’s no reason why it can’t happen more than once. It’s kind of great that it happens.