I'm always on the lookout for writing mantras I can latch onto. And on occasionI'll see the correlation between a story and how it "can" apply to writing. Like the story of Little Train, and how it "could" apply to writing 1st drafts.
In using this metaphor, let me start right off by saying I'm little train -- not that dipshit clown riding atop the engine's roof! What a fuckin' dipshit. I mean who does that, ride onto of moving train -- even in a cartoon. Must be a clown, and indeed it is.
Moving on with the analogy, which will get better as this post progresses I promise. When endeavoring to write and complete a given work, one needs persistence, and the inner fortitude to fight through it when the going gets tough and more uphill, like when the euphoria of writing wears off, and the processes becomes more of a grind.
"I think I can. I think I can. Chugga-chugga. Chugga-chugga. Toot! Toot!!"
A lot of people are under the misconception that all writers do is dream stuff up, licky-split. They think it and -- poof! It exists in a finished, polished form. That is how people who are very distant from the actual writing process. I've talked to some people in my family, who hear I'm "a writer" and their eyes get glassy, they have a sense of wow and ill-placed awe. They have no real idea of what it takes to take an idea from start to finish, and be creative. Not to diss these people, as they do have other skills and attributes that I lack, but we are notable different.
Writing requires persistence. Writing requires adding fuel to the fire to keep the train moving. This fuel comes in the form of butt-in-seat time put in. Wanna add pages to your page count? Gotta be behind the keyboard to do that, Holmes.
What's fun is that once you get the 1st draft train moving sometimes as you sail through the creative writing landscape you discover beauty akin to this --
Is this picture ever beautiful or what? It's like the train finally arrived at something worth while. And that's the draw of the writing train. The cool, unexpected discoveries that come along the ride. You see it's not not all clown hoping on top of the roof trying to take credit and slow you down. No, there's joy to be had in the journey.
Why just the other day, I wrote off my outline and discovered a really cool scene. Unfortunately too many of my writing days don't look the scenic picture I posted. No, most of my writing days look like this:
Twists and winds, valley and peaks. Does that look like a grind to you? Well, that's part of my mental struggle with writing. I tend to to look too far out over the horizon and get overwhelmed by all the difficulties I imagine myself having as I try to bring this writing train to its last destination.
I think I can. I think I can. Chugga. Chugga.
But where's the toot-toot! Gotta have a toot, toot. What is the toot-toot, you may be wondering. That's the joyous feel of forward momentum as you push towards the goal. Bet you never had Little Train broken down to that degree before. But that's what us highfalutein, pretentious-as-fuck writers do; we over-analyze things and draw deeper conclusions that the surface material deserves.
I love the toot-toot feeling of accomplishment. Need to "toot", "toot" some more in my life. It's important. When you toot it means your proud of what you're doing. Do I take pride in my writing accomplishments? Damn-straight, Skippy.
But right now, in all honesty, I'm kinda pissed at myself for my own slow progress in penning the current story that I'm working on. Truth be told I thought I'd have it done by now. NOT still working on the 1st draft that I began in March! I need to get faster. I need to spend more time in the engine room of my creative writing train. I need to take responsibility for my writing productivity and get more done. I do have desire. I do want to see the finish line and produce another story that I'm proud of. Need reasons to toot, toot.
I think one way I can get faster is to stop drinking beer. Gunna be a sacrifice, but a needed one. Another way I can get faster is get back to doing mind-engages at work. This is basically setting the stage so that when I'm behind the keyboard my mind is already in the story, and I'm ready to move on to deeper levels and the creative train is poised to discover new sights.
"I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. I know I can."
The Little Train that could, kicked into gear E.C. Henry style. Whaddya think? Am I nuts or what? Don't tell me you think I'm more like that clown on top of the train, than the train itself. That would make Hulk very angry indeed!
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
P.S. Saw the movie, "Ted" (2012: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis) last night at the Bonney Lake Multiplex. Laughed a lot. "Ted" is kinda raunchy in spots, but what needs to work, works in this film. Namely Mark Wahlberg's character's believable bond to his Teddy bear, and Mark Wahlberg's character relationship to his girlfriend, Mila Kunis' character. And as for the title character, Ted; he hams it up quite nicely in spots, is likeable and funny at the same time, and the image I took away from this film is a grown man smoking his bong with his Teddy bear. Believe me it's in the film. Here's a taste of what you can expect:
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