Five Strengths in My Writing

Wendy Robards suggested the mental exercise "Five Reasons I'm a Strong Writer."

I don't usually bother with memes, but it got me thinking about why I think I can write. Once I got to thinking, I started comparing writing to visual arts -- I haven't had a lot of problems writing 50k words every November since 2001, but art work? It's like pulling teeth and I usually get so stressed out about it that I have to take a shower after coming up with some lame cover image.

So what makes the writing side stronger?

Number one, I get a tremendous kick out of telling lies. This is why I prefer fiction to non-fiction. Understand, I will NOT lie to someone about my actions or in court or stuff like that, but to entertain myself, I can and will fabricate facts, dates, experiences, you name it. (Ask Bernie.)

Two: Boldness. When I am typing, I am strong. I leap into the blank page like a maniac with a machine gun, blowing holes in the emptiness with no fear or compunction. Shotguns, machine guns, arrows, rocks -- when I think of writing I think of projectile weapons.

Those first two rather go together, because I'm a stage-junkie. I did not venture into Theater Arts when I was in college because given a stage and an audience, everything else fades -- food, drink, rest -- screw it, the energy that flows from an audience is the greatest high in the world and I can't get enough of it. Not good. However, in print, I can be an action hero to my heart's content, presenting whatever facade I like, and imagine an audience as large as I like.

Three and Four are practical: Vocabulary, and Grammar-and-Punctuation. I've got a wide range of words, and know how to put them together. Lots of writers have great ideas but shoot themselves in the feet every time they try to put those ideas on paper because they don't have those basics. Both as a teacher and as an editor I have found horrific the mistakes I see when people try to express themselves.

Five would be my idealism. I believe in goodness, in surmounting terrible odds, in love, in self-sacrifice. I believe that the thoughts of our hearts are worthwhile, and should be scattered on the ocean of humanity like a fountain of rose petals brightening an endless flotilla of boats. I hope that at least some of my writing has given people joy, or at the very least, a chuckle. "If I can make someone in the world laugh, or lift their heart," I told someone when I was 17, "then I won't have had a wasted life."

I guess I still feel the same way.

Now, why doesn't that work with visual arts for me?