Writer’s Wisdom
We have all probably read this but I just felt I should post it again as the words are so true for us Writers…
“So You Want to Be a Writer”
By Charles Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
I think Mr. Bukowski was being a bit over-dramatic to make his point, but he’s right about one thing:
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
I can’t tell you how many laptops I’ve ruined that way!
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Ha ha ha
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I love the part about writing roaring out of you. That’s exactly the way it happens with me.
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yes sometimes it just comes sometimes you cant write a thing ha x
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Charles Bukowski… the creepy little guy had a wisdom about him.
I think we should wright if we have “thoughts” to share. If it’s just to be a celebrity… forget it.
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So true. Most celebrities can’t write and some shouldnt speak either ha 🙂
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It is impossible to write unless as he puts it, it comes gushing forth and does not stop. He’s right; if you have to force it, don’t do it, if you spend hours in front of any form of keyboard, don’t bother. If you were meant to write in any, way, shape and/or form, it will come out of you. Sometimes, it is like a geyser that will not stop erupting, other times it is more like the beautiful blue, green, orange and red pools of boiling water, and it comes more slowly. The point being at times the words will simply pour out of your fingers, and other times the brain is a bit more choosy with what it wants to reveal. But, if anything he said was true; don’t do it. You will be miserable because you will feel that your chosen art form has failed you in some way.
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Just discovered your comment… it seemed to get lost in the shuffle. What caught my attention about your comment, was the personal insight that reflects the feast or famine part of creative existence.
For me personally… IF I have a intense desire to share thoughts, then the words flow effortlessly. I guess George Orwell was right when he said “words are the currency of thought” and to me that said it all. Have thoughts… the words will come. Learn a new complex word and notice the thought experience that comes from understanding it, and noticing its relevance in life. Makes it fun to be human.
Thanks for sharing your “thoughts”.
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I really liked the quote from George Orwell. Words are the currency of the thought process. We think in words, and yes, if they are meant to be heard or need to heard the thoughts will eventually yield to words. I love words in all their forms; complex or not.
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