So not only did you teach me about writing memoir, you also taught me about reading and thinking about how others write memoir. Thank you so much! Rebecca

Accepting what is to come

You can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Showing posts with label Emily Dickinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily Dickinson. Show all posts

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Business of Writing

Writing, submitting,  publishing, marketing, writing, submitting, publishing, marketing, on and on it goes.That is the writing business. I'm not sure I'm cut out for the business.
I love to write - poetry, non-fiction, fiction, in my journal, letters, articles - but submitting my work is WORK.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all we had to do was write? That is what many of us do - we just write. We don't even revise. We just write and keep our writing to ourselves.
That is so, so easy. I have tons of writing I've done over the years. I have notebooks filled with stories I've forgotten, some are non-fiction pieces and some are short stories. I still have a poem I wrote in high school. My teacher, Miss Feagan, wanted me to submit it to a magazine. But, even then, I didn't want to do the business of writing.
I think I understand those writers and poets who died and then became famous. They did it the easy way. Emily Dickinson had the joy of writing, but she left behind all the business of writing.