I don’t write to be famous, I don’t write to be known, I write because I am and I want to be read. How sad to fill a room with paintings no one sees or play music no one hears. Writing is talking without sound, singing without score and dancing without movement and yet, it is all of them. It is a solitary art conjured from thought and expressed by the need to communicate.

HEAD SLAPS, SPEED BUMPS and LIGHTBULBS, one woman's WTF, oops and ah-ha moments of life.

They were published once, and as every writer knows, once is not enough.




Thursday, May 23, 2013

Pitching tents



I did it twice, wrote a blog post and then took it down. I was mad. Twelve hours later I deleted it, rewrote and put it back up. Twelve hours after that, just a few minutes ago, I folded up the tent and put it away. I don’t think I’ll be pitching it again anytime soon.

Why?

My tendency to knee-jerk my reactions via ‘enter’ has consequences. The ready availability to rant is remarkable. In relation to instant communication writers-introspection has me realizing that though the power of words is awesome, and the speed of computer-communication is monolithic, sometimes stepping back and thinking first is in order.

Not only mad I was pissed, heartbroken and disappointed in the system. It is up to you to guess the system of which I speak and it has nothing to do with writing. I wanted what I wrote to go viral, to maybe change things or at its very least start a dialog. And then I thought about the consequences of being viewed as an angry person. I’m not angry; I’m disappointed and frankly heartbroken. I’m thankful for what I have, where I’ve been and for what I have achieved. No negative words today, no rant.

When is the last time you wrote what you shouldn’t have written?

5 comments:

  1. When is the last time you wrote what you shouldn’t have written? Every day - called the W.I.P.

    But... seriously..., as you know, we've ALL been there and done that. Actually, the event that sticks out the most for me is... I said something, in a meeting, with about 30 people sitting around. I thought I was being a defender of the cause. There were crickets after. A. Lot. Of. Crickets. They must have been gigantic ones too with longevity galore, cause when I think about that day, I can still hear them.

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    1. Something weird happened and my reply to Donna got deleted so I wrote it again.

      I sent my rant to a friend who recommended I Facebook it. She was revved when she read it and thought I should give others a chance to get pumped too. So I set aside my doubts and Facebooked it. I can honestly say I have no regrets, so far.
      No crickets yet.

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    2. Oh my. I'll have to see if I can look you up. I'm all about a good rant!

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  2. I definitely know the feeling. I've been trying to force myself to wait and settle first. Usually, the topic is one I can speak or write about, but I come across much better when settled than foaming at the mouth!

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    1. I think the knee jerk foaming thing is in my DNA because my mother was a shout-now regret later kind of woman. When she got older she didn't regret a word, she just always said, "well you know how I am."
      I'm hoping I can stop the rants with me.

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