Onto the subject at hand…

Recently, I found myself in a short debate on the nature of villainy.  What makes an interesting villain?  What doesn’t?  Is a colorful villain the same as a more subtle villain?  Stuff like that.  Rather than repeat it all, I recommend you check out the comments on my Opinions Vary blog entry.  Some ideas are shared, and it makes some interesting reading.

Near the end of the exchange, I noticed something.  I’m a writer.  A needless observation since, if you’re visiting this website, you probably know me first and foremost as a writer.  Safe to say, if I wasn’t a writer, you wouldn’t give a damn about what random thoughts were crawling through my head at any moment, no matter how well-expressed.  So I am indeed a professional writer, and I have the check stubs to prove it.

But more than being a pro, I’m actually a writer.  I think about stories, about characters and plots and premises and everything that makes a story up.  If it’s a book, you know I’ve thought about the sentences, considered how they all fit together, about what they say and what they don’t say.  If I’m reading the book, I’m analyzing it (even against my will).  And if I’m writing it, I’m trying to make sure it does what I want.  Oddly, even when I’m not sure what I want it to say.

If it’s a movie, I do the same thing.  Except I’m not really concerned with cinematography or subtleties of direction that I’m sure are there but usually go unnoticed except for a feeling of something great when it’s there and something off when it’s not.

I can turn this off to some degree.  I saw Legion this weekend, and while there are many questionable plot choices, I also was willing to overlook it because there’s a fight between archangels that is totally badass, and really, that’s the whole reason I’m there.

I have a pet peeve of using the term “storyteller”.  It just seems pretentious.  I also hate the phrase “craft of writing”.  It just bugs me for some reason.  But I do believe storytelling is an art and that writing is a craft.  Though maybe I’d be more comfortable with “trade of writing” because I’m a tradesperson, really.  But instead of making houses, I make stories.  It takes some of the romanticism out of it, but if you ask me, that’s a good thing.  Because novelology isn’t glamourous.  It’s mostly sitting in front of a computer and typing.

Being a professional teller of stories, I still sometimes get confused about it.  Recently, at the DFWWW’s after-IHOP gathering, a rollicking conversation about Transformers 2 and racism erupted.  The conversation is far too complicated to get into now, but it was fantastic.  It was great because we were all discussing a movie about giant robots and racial perceptions far deeper than one movie about giant robots and about the nature of stories themselves.  One of the most memorable discussions I’ve had in a long time, and one not soon forgotten.

More than an interesting diversion though, this was me discussing storytelling with fellow storytellers.  Really not any different than a bunch of carpenters sitting around discussing hammers and nails.  It’s why I keep the receipts from my IHOP gatherings because it is a business expense.  My writing benefits immensely from these discussions.

People think writing is easy.  Heck, I think it’s easy.  It’s certainly not as hard as breaking your back for minimum wage.  Or manning the counter at McDonald’s.  Or any number of thankless jobs that demand so much and give back so little.  But writing isn’t easy.  You have to think about it.  And if you do a good job, most people aren’t even going to notice.  And if you do a bad job, many people aren’t going to notice either.  People really don’t care that much about stories.  They tend to take them at face value.

I’m often amazed at how often people talk about the story without ever thinking about the writer behind the pages.  That’s how it should be.  I think only bad fiction draws attention to the author, just as bad directing tends to be all about the camera movements and stylistic shots rather than what’s happening on the screen.

But I am a writer.  And I do care.  And I do think about it.  Just do me a favor.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee

I’ve decided to be inspirational today because I love it when I hear that something I’ve written has given an aspiring writer hope.  If I can do that, then I figure that this isn’t a waste of time because, as I’ve pointed out before, I was an aspiring writer not so long ago.

What’s my inspirational message today?

You can be a professional writer.

Yes, you.

I say this without hesitation, without even knowing anything about you.  I say this not even knowing if you want to be a professional writer.  I say this assuming that many of you reading this are, in point of fact, very, very bad writers.  Most importantly, I say that because it’s true.

Anybody can be a professional writer.  It’s one of the great things about the job.  It’s why so many people want to do it.  Think about it.  How many aspiring football players do you meet?  Plumbers?  Astronauts?  Hairstylists?  Go go dancers?  That’s because these jobs take talent.  You have to be able to catch a ball to be a pro football player.  You have to not throw up in your spacesuit to be an astronaut.  Cutting hair may not be rocket science, but I’ll admit that I can’t figure it out.  Although in my defense, I haven’t actually tried.

Still, the thing about writing, even in comparison to so many other jobs in this world (including other artistic-type professions) is that talent is probably the least important part of the job.  There.  I said it.  And I don’t deny it.

Time for an aside.  I’m not implying that there aren’t many talented and wonderful writers out there.  Plenty of them.  And I’m not suggesting that bad writers get rewarded more consistently than good writers.  I’m just saying that writing is a pretty simple job.  All you really need to do is understand how a sentence works, and you’ve accomplished 90 percent of the job.  The other 10 percent can be a killer.  I’ll admit this.  But it isn’t really necessary to be a talented writer to be a professional writer.

I know this because I read a lot of really, really bad books.  Popular books by popular writers.  No, I’m not going to name names so don’t bother asking.  I also read a lot of good books.  And there is, as far as I’m concerned, little correlation between success and talent in any way, good or bad.

Of course, there are untalented folks in all fields of human endeavor.  I’m sure you can find a lazy astronaut, an unattractive soap opera star, a clumsy ballerina if you look hard enough.  But these are the exceptions, not the rule.

Writing fiction is probably the most subjective art form there is.  It may be the most abstract job there is.  (Okay, there’s ghost hunting, which involves pretending to see spirits in absurdly trivial events, but I’d rather not open that door again.)  For every fan who likes my books, there are probably dozens who don’t.  Maybe they don’t like the swearing in some of them.  Maybe they think my books are too short.  Maybe they prefer books about pirates.  There are a million reasons to like or dislike anything I (or anyone else) writes.

So my inspirational words to all aspiring writers who might be reading this is that anybody can become a professional novelologist.  They might not make a fortune.  They might not set the publishing world on fire.  But, with hard work, determination, and a whole hell of a lot of luck, any aspiring writer (who knows how a sentence work) can one day sell their novel.

So keep writing.  Keep submitting.  Do endeavor to improve your writing.  It might help.  It can’t hurt.  But always remember that you can do it. 

Probably.

Of course, none of this pep talk actually applies to me.  As we all know, I am a tremendously talented, charismatic individual destined for greatness.  My success was dictated by The Mighty Robot King himself (with a little backup from The Jade Panda Emperor thrown in for good measure).  But every rule has its exception.

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee