Write It

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Write it

Or

Read it

 

“Long patience and application saturated by your hearts blood—you will either write or you will not…” Jim Tully

        I’ve read (there I go again) that there are “thousands” of books on how to become a writer; I also uncovered the premise/promise that there are also “thousands” of videos on how to become a writer (one says that you can in ‘three easy lessons’). How do you become a writer? As Jim Tully said: you will or you won’t. Who was Jim Tully? A writer’s writer. Have you read him? I’ll bet my copy of Strunk & White you haven’t.

        I’ve been writing a column in this mag for over twenty-five years; I average fifteen a year. You could do the math if you wanted to; but who does? You know what I do after an article’s been published? No? Well, I send it to my blog. Do you want to read about twenty-five years of Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, other holidays, my warped thoughts? Thanks to Where Y’at magazine my blog has a plethora of fodder construed for your perusal, edification and enlightenment, hundreds in fact.

        Actually, only two people read my column after my editors approve, refine and publish it; you and one other person. Less people read my blog; so there you have it. I am a writer. I am published.

        How do you become a writer? First, you have to WANT to be a writer; the same as if you wanted to be a puppeteer, poet, painter, piper, pirate, a pawn or a King (although we don’t put up with Kings at our house). You gotta want it. Get on your mark, get set…...you know.

        And then what? As one old saw put it: “a man on the street asked me how to get to Carnegie Hall and I told him…... ‘Practice! Practice! Practice!’”. Find and expand your skill set; read more; build your vocabulary; express yourself succinctly (there, see?). Read writers’ stuff; see how they work words, phrases, ideas, thoughts, opinions, dreams, ambitions, pursuits, loves and concerns. Then sit down with a blank page. Put your name and date in the top right corner (just joking).

        Yes, do sit with a blank page and pick a subject, a skill that Ray Bradbury uses (you’ve read him?). Okay here goes: the subject is… the Claiborne overpass that the locals call ‘The Bridge’; or, the meaning of meanings in-between the in-between; the walk that I (you) just took today; the perfect July fourth; my perfect grandfather; smelling sleep coming and/or why does SIRI know the words to Bohemian Rhapsody? I’ve written none of these; but, I could. You could.

        One of the side perks of being a writer (besides the money, fame and women) is your sanctioned right and ability to make shyte up, it’s called poetic license; another is your perfect freedom to ‘use your voice’ or any other voice. Pretty cool. And just like A.A. Milne or J.M. Barrie you can make up what you want your writer’s name to be: E.B White; C.S. Lewis; H.G. Wells; J.K. Rowling.  Or you can have a nom de plume (pen name) like George Orwell (Eric Blair); Mark Twain (Samual Clemens); Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgeson) or even, Richard Bachman (Steven King).  

        Published writings span a vast array of genres and styles and you can slip your spoon into any of that soup you hunger for. There’s fiction, of course; but, there’s also journalism, opinions/commentary, poetry, non-fiction and of course, my favorite…fantasy. There’s a genre for any mental type; maybe not for travel or cookbook writers though.

        Journalists are basically researchers and snitches. They like to find things out and report them to the public; news and information is their game and you’ll see them in media where they live and breed. The public hangs on their every word because we all love gossip, truth be told.

        Opinions are like digestive tracts, virtually everyone’s got one and they function each day, one way or another. Ask me anything and if I don’t have all the facts, at least I can give you an opinion; anything, go ahead and ask. Usually, Journalists and Opinionates breed together and give birth to people with podcasts.

        Poets are a different breed altogether. They are folks that have internalized and dwelled on their feelings to such an extent that an eruption like many mini-volcano lava spews out in the form of words on paper. Either that or they are snots that want to make fun of everything, as in: “There once was a man from Nantucket…” (which can be, in essence, a rhyming sequence that can border on the obscene).

        Non-fictionalists are those nerds that gotta stick their noses into everybody’s business and report on who, what, where and how things got done, are being done or will be done based on the evidence of what evidence they can base things on: how a blind monk in France invented Champagne; how we didn’t win the war and how, we didn’t (pun intended) and/or how Gaga got her groove going. In media, these folks do biopics and documentaries.

        And my favorite geek: the fantasy writer. Dreamer, imager, word illusionist, conjurer and the wordsmiths that will relate things that you just know can’t be true but you believe them anyway. Warning: it’s easy to become addicted. Reading is cool and it always will be; however, it’s the writers that have the most fun.

        “Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write.” Neil Gaiman