Writing Pushers
Sunday, April 19th, 2009
Hard-up writers cheat with them, indescreetly. Dressed in rain coats, they walk straight through the store to the Language section and the writing instruction books, a seedy bookshelf corner where ideas are being peddled for cheap. The writers stand there so they can be propositioned by the titles: The Write-Brain Workbook: 366 Exercises to Liberate Your Writing, The Writer’s Idea Book, Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring!. Liberated writing? Not sure what that is, but it sounds good. Not boring? Yeah, I don’t want my work to be boring. Ideas? I don’t have any. I’ll take them all! What these publishers are selling is addictive – in high demand — and writers are willing to pay top dollar for mind-blowing inspiration.
The set up is pretty blatant: Suggestions from a published author must be better than your approach to writing, which is to sit down, be natural and let the words flow. But you’d rather believe in the myth and all the thoughts that come in reading their tips. You think: “Here’s someone who has figured it all out. Who actually writes with a purpose, an end in mind.” And what comes from that is self-centered, but exactly the point – a complete condemnation of your own work.
I’ve turned to them at times when I’ve gotten stuck. Natalie Goldberg was my supplier. She gave me a few of her best pills – little read ones – when I was working on deadline and there was just no other way to deliver a good story. I could have taken my time and tried to write clean, but I needed it right away and I had some extra cash.
Like the thousands of others who make a living with this lonesome craft, it’s sometimes hard for me to make myself sit down and actually get to work. Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones is the best in this category by far. She actually seems to care about the craft. She has the good stuff. And the come down isn’t as harsh as it is with other books.
