This is my last DEAD GUY post... while I'm in my 50s. Today will be a special day for me. It's probably best if you don't call.
It's said that every actor wants to be a rock star and every rock star wants to be an athlete. Not sure what every athlete wants to be, but it's probably an actor. Not me. I've always wanted to be a writer. Which lucks out for me because my guitar playing is matched in mediocrity only by my singing. And let's not discuss songwriting. Because I can't do that.
But I have a friend named Circe Link who is a very talented musician and songwriter and she says she writes songs every day. Multiple songs. Every day.
That feat--and I have no doubt about Circe's word--is remarkable. Because songwriting isn't the same as writing a novel. I write 1000 words every day and some people find that amazing (I don't). But it still takes me at least 80 days to write a novel, and let's face it, Phileas Fogg made it all the way around the world in that space of time without the help of airplanes.
In other words, the maximum number of times I have to come up with a new idea for a novel is four a year, give or take. And I write series, which means after the first one is completed I have a family of characters and a situation set up that can at least spur some thought in the direction of the next story.
Writing more than one song every day? Getting a new idea both lyrically and musically 365 times a year (more, really)? Already my head is starting to hurt.
Every time I talk to Circe I'm struck by the way our minds consider each other's work. All I ever want to ask her about is music. She wants to know about my process writing novels. It's about envy versus awe: If I were to meet another author working roughly in my field I might be distracted by envy. Is this author more successful than I am in some way? It's not about being threatened, because I can't write what someone else would and they can't write my work. But I might wonder about his/her process and compare every detail to my own.
With Circe I don't think about that because she writes songs and I absolutely can't do that. I've written five songs in my life and two of them are essentially the same song with different lyrics. None of them is exactly a classic, or even within driving distance of professional quality. So I can be in awe of her talent because I don't compare it to what I do.
But here's the thing: Writers of any kind are in awe of writers of every other kind. Circe thinks my being able to write three or four books a year is amazing. I think it's a matter of financial necessity and perseverance. It's the ideas that are the hard part.
I have friends who are screenwriters and they can't imagine writing something as long as a novel--so many words! I look at their work and marvel at the ability to write in images, to wring emotion out of characters (and audiences) without anyone speaking a word. That's really something.
No matter what a creative person might do, and no matter how galaxy-sized one's ego might be, we never lose the ability to appreciate the talent and hard work others put into their output. That's a good thing; it means we're not so far into our own situations that we can't see what's going on outside our own heads. I love songwriters because they provide something I can't find on my own. I admire good screenwriters because they create the blueprints for movies that move me to laughter or tears.
I love my fellow crime fiction writers mostly for themselves, but also because they write books I couldn't begin to imagine. It's healthy to live in awe. As long as it doesn't stop you from doing your own thing.
Meanwhile: Coming Next Week--
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