Encouragement to write

OK, so I'm not used to this yet, not at all. I've been reading though, and found a wonderful book on how to write! Yes, I do get the humour in this.

It's by Brenda Ueland, "If You Want To Write". She was an amazing woman and teacher, who encourages writers to dive in, make mistakes, be outrageous. I was so impressed with her book, that I looked up her biography, and she was an amazing woman who walked 9 miles a day and did everything she really wanted to do. One of those people who is not made smaller by being worn down over time, but gets bigger with the experience of actually living her life.

Her favourite authors are the Russians, because they are true to themselves. Her take on writing is, if you are not writing from your passion, it won't be infectious, and no one will be changed. You're writing will be "small", because you are small. That's a paraphrase, but that's the picture she left in my mind. Write about what we know and what raises emotion.

Well, that's easier said than done. I think "Great, I'll just get right down to writing about what I know and feel passionately about." Yeah. Nothing. Not a zip noodle doo dah day of a miniscule idea.

So I'm reading all kinds of stuff. Whenever a question comes to mind, I'm reading up on it. Shampoo? No problem! Did you know that all shampoos work better if they are diluted? Some need a dilution of as much as 10:1 to work best. Isn't that amazing? Thyroid problems? Best thing to do is see your doc. Not too much comprehensible information on that one. Double Helix? Awesome energy interchange of connectness and distance. I'm going to use it in a poem, hopefully.

Reading, writing, who likes Russians? Brenda Ueland does! So I'm going to start reading Chekov for the first time in my life. I figure I can handle a short story. I even ordered children's stories from the library, figuring that children's stories are some of the best pieces ever written, and that's a good starting place.

When I'm done with all this reading stuff, I may be able to have an elegant conversation at a cocktail party. (For anyone who knows me, you're probably rolling on the floor with laughter at the image).

So there you are! I'm updated, current, oh so fey.