Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Writing is not an end point but a journey.  You never really arrive.  Writing is a process.  Someone called my short article on journal keeping (which can be found on http://www.siggyscafe.com) a ‘blurb’.

That might be but it took me a lifetime to write.  Several decades of journal keeping.  My wife also did a masterful job of editing it.

I am well aware I will never write the great American novel.  I simply am not motivated that way.  I simply want to write something and get out as quickly as possible.  I am conscious of that.  I strive for simplicity and clarity.  I accepted that a long time ago.

The longer pieces I have written in my lifetime were very difficult for me to do.  I have written only a few short, short stories.  I find it interesting that a fellow writer who has the opposite problem — keeping the word count down — recommended that on some longer pieces she wanted to hear more detail.

Maybe I need to take her advice.  It certainly would stretch me.  There really is no point in which you have arrived as a writer although you might consider publication of a book one.

At every point you write, you whole past is impacting your writing.  Writing is always a process and journey.  Otherwise you are constantly repeat (constantly repeat (or) are constantly repeating) yourself.

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Writing is primarily psychological.  First you have to have something to say.  You need to be driven to reach out to an invisible audience, to solve a problem.  You may even know your end point but may not know how you are going to get there or what you are going to expound in the body of your text.

I never overly concerned about grammar (sic! the “fine editor” decided to leave this one as written!).  I know I can or my fine editor, my lovely and talented wife, can go back easily and tell me this or that needs correcting.  To be driven by passion, conflict is far more important.  If the feelings expressed are genuine they will always come through no matter how badly written the piece is.  Expressing yourself honestly and openly is what the reader responds to–not facile-ness.  It can be well written and say nothing.

Having something to say consistently always means providing quiet time for yourself and being able to listen to what the tiny voice inside of you saying:  “this is truly what is important and I want to express that openly to someone.”  Proverbs in the Bible says:  “Be still and know I am God.”

I am not going to discuss the existence of God in this piece but there is no doubt that one must have periods of reflection to continue to write.  Otherwise that person’s ideas will peter out eventually.  One must let his/her mind roam.  And that process is always psychological.  And that process is always a precursor to writing.

Tags: be genuine, Be still and know I am God, Bible, editor, express yourself honestly, feelings, God, have something to say, invisible audience, knowledge, learning, let your mind roam, listen to your tiny voice inside of you, periods of reflection, Proverbs, psychological, quiet time, quiet time for yourself, reflection, siggyscafe.com, the reader, writers, writing
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