Writer's Clique

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Comment by Valerie K on October 9, 2009 at 11:48pm

Just a wee note...I am interviewing Carla and Lin tomorrow on my writing blog to celebrate their publication in The Zombie Cookbook--
www.novaham.blogspot.com
Stop by and show your support!

Comment by Barbara Ann Storrier on July 5, 2009 at 5:25pm

WRITERS TELL THE TRUTH
by Robert Rabbin

I THINK THE MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY of any writer is to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Of course, it's just their truth, but nonetheless, one must tell the truth without fear of judgment, rejection, or reprisal. No afternoon tepid tea-cakes of politeness and political correctness, just rowdy rum cake soaked with truth. This is why writing is so hard. It requires a courage and fearlessness to be truthful that's too much for many people. I thought of writing when Tom Hanks explained the secret of baseball to Geena Davis in the movie, A League of Their Own, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everybody would do it. The hardness makes it great."

Writing challenges us to question everything. Writing demands that we never settle into complacency. Writers are spiritual warriors, in that they are willing to confront their demons, and also find their ecstasies. One of our great American poets, Allen Ginsberg, wrote, "The censorship of language is the censorship of consciousness. " Writers can't afford to censor their words, because they would be censoring their consciousness - which would be artistic and spiritual suicide.

Writers can't be afraid of what they hear inside themselves; they can't be afraid of saying anything. Of course, the line between personal freedom and respect for others must be walked carefully. I am not talking about adolescent freedom, which is a kind of instant self-gratification, but expressive, artistic, and spiritual freedom. We, as writers and as human beings, must tell the truth - we must find out what that sounds like, what that feels like, what that tastes like. We must develop a language of truth, a syntax that challenges corruption, and one with a compelling tone of clarity and clear mindedness. I hate fuzzy thinking.

Truth is tricky business, isn't it? Most people have their hand on some book of truth, or have their tongue wrapped around a "this is how it is" rhetorical lollipop. I'm not talking about truth as a noun, but as a verb. The difference is vast. It is the difference between "ultimate truth" and "whoa, would you look at that! Ammaaaazzzziiiiinnn nng." Truth is non-stop exploration and continuous excavation of ancient cities of excitement buried beneath mediocrity, boredom, and complacency.

The other thing about writers is that they eventually come around to being personal and specific. I like this notion of truth never-ending, like the universe itself, continuously expanding from we don't know where to we don't have a clue. Truth is thus a relationship to life that involves openness, curiosity, courage, and a willingness to hold found truths lightly, always ready to let them go for the sake of newer, fresher, and more vital truths. In this regard, we must always avoid the fixed point of view. Life is dynamic, and truth is a verb. For those of you who think in terms of the "ego," we can say the ego is just a fixed point of view. Any fixed point of view. Especially the "I've experienced ultimate truth" point of view.

"Ultimate" is a category the mind creates, to give our ego-fixed-point- of-view what it most wants: unimpeachable certitude to ward off the heebie-jeebies of existential angst which comes from sensing that oh my God, this whole thing is just tooooo big for anyone to get. Something in me, and I think it is God, starts shouting and throwing plates against the wall when I hear people treat truth as a noun, as a cosmic goal line one can cross and get the big score and win the game. I want to throw them from airplanes and see what they say on the way down. (I can't believe I just said that!! How rude.)

I admire any writers who are fearless and tell the truth. I admire the writers who are unafraid to break with tradition and the social conventions of their day. I lived for a time in Paris, where I hung around in cafes reading the French symbolist poets like Baudelaire and Rimbaud, because they used language that was unique and startling, and they made me think of new things. They, like other fearless writers, invite the reader into new and wondrous worlds of possibilities. They constantly ask the reader to grow beyond what they already know, and dare to imagine great new things. I loved Kurt Vonnegut because his mind was just so ironic and original. I also liked to read the mystics from around the world. I loved the Sufi poet Rumi and others whose whole purpose in writing, or singing, was to discover and express more and more truth and shake the fixed-point- of-view people awake.

That's why he said, "However you think it is, it's different than that."

Here it is: to be a successful writer, to be a real human being, you've got to tell the truth. That's a wild ride. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Just life and ain't it a beauty. And if none of this makes sense, ok, just ignore everything and head on out to the center of some as-yet-un-named and un-tamed universe and call it your own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Rabbin is a mesmerizing public speaker and groundbreaking author, leadership advisor, and self-awareness teacher. He is the creator of RealTime Speaking and a sought-after public speaking guru, message master, and communication strategist. For more information about Robert and his programs of personal and professional mastery, visit www.robertrabbin. com.

Comment by Francine on February 27, 2009 at 3:09pm

Well.. I've been writing more.. not sure where it fits in all the discussions, so I'm going to add here.. I've been writing more... lots of little snippets.. that I will reorganize later. I suspect that at least some of them belong together, but I'm not worried about that.. just writing that is important... am I weird? am I the only one that writes this way? I know its working for me, as i've written quite a bit that I know will work eventually in a story or 2..but it seems soo odd to me to write it this way, rather than a cohesive story/

Comment by Francine on February 11, 2009 at 2:56am

well.. hi there.. I was here.. and went away.. and.. well..I'm back. Its almost as though well.. I've been drawn to write..over and over and over.. for years.. but never quite had the courage to actually step forward and actually do more than just dither about, and get blocked every time i start.
So. back here and now going to grab a new book and start.. great link btw about writer's block... the 50 word challenge is interesting.. not sure I can a whole story in 50 words.. yours are great though Dan.. good job.

Comment by Carol@Swallowcliffs on January 24, 2009 at 1:37am

I stumbled on this site and thought writers might find it fun.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/trialover/

Comment by Frank on January 9, 2009 at 3:11am

Dear CrypticFragment:
I think that you need need to heed Frank's number one commandment of Creative writing - Thou must have fun !
Try getting younger in your creative pursuits - color with crayons, finger paints or my favorite - writing an excuse note explaining why you don't have your 'assignment' done (I did the homework but the dog ate it and then a dragon ate the dog and then an evil magician brought the dog and dragon back to life . . .) when I get the fun going I find I can face any assignment.

Comment by Anne Westlund on January 3, 2009 at 9:47pm

CrypticFragment

Just a thought: try writing every day or as often as possible. Something may emerge that you are fired up about. Instead of stressing on everything you write, just write! Or you could throw out what you write, you will find something you can't bear to part with.

Anne

Comment by CrypticFragment on January 3, 2009 at 7:01pm

ok writers/creatives...how do you find a project which REALLY fires your passion? something you WANT (rather than need) to do?

I know I am a talented writer & artist. But, motivation is a real issue for me. Most of the time I feel like projects are assignments rather than passions, and this disturbs me and has slowed me down to a crawl over the past several years on the writing front.

I want to find something which really matters to me again, something which will make my words spill out. But I have no idea where to begin.
The best I can do is find characters which hold my attention for a few pgs of note-jotting, scribbled plot ideas...and then everything dies off.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Comment by JanMarie on December 21, 2008 at 3:15am

I thk thee 4 the invite.

Comment by Marie Dees on October 14, 2008 at 12:55pm

Hi, New to CCS, but I knew there'd be writers.

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