Paperback Writers
Writing a novel is huge. Freaking huge. Think about it. A writer starts out with nothing. He or she has a blank page and a pen, or a blank page and some typewriter ink, or a blank screen and a blinking curser. Now, fast forward days, weeks, months, years- you're holding a book in your hands. It's 300-some pages long. Filled with words. And while the author most likely did not invent those words (unless he happened to be Shakespeare), he invented those sentences. He formed each and every string of words out of his own imagination. She (I'm using "she" so you don't think I'm sexist) created every single character. She created every word her characters ever said. She created lives.
Nobody gives writing half the credit it deserves. Including me. People are so fast to criticize books. It seems so simple when you're holding the finished thing in your hands. You never see all of the steps in between- all of the grief and stress and doubt and worry and fear that goes into creating a novel. You just see the finished product. When I think of writing novels, I think of John Green. I think of "The Fault In Our Stars". And I think "He created that. All of it. John Green created Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. He created two beautiful lives. With his mind." And I think "Writing a novel is huge."
When I say "Nobody gives writing half the credit it deserves", I'm also talking about the people writing those novels. They get to page 336 and they think "I don't know what to do next. What if I never finish?" and they think "I'm a failure. This stupid thing (because it doesn't deserve to be called a novel) is literally the worst thing I've ever read in my entire life. And I'm the one who made it." But COME ON! Even if is utter crap the person still filled 336 pages with words! That takes dedication! That takes passion, thought, imagination, and a whole dump-truck full of stubbornness. Writers are the most stubborn people you will ever meet. But let me tell you one thing- stubbornness is good. It gets you places. Stubbornness is what gets worthless pieces of utter crap made into best-selling novels.
Day Thirty-Four Song Recommendation: "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles.
-SE Wagner
Nobody gives writing half the credit it deserves. Including me. People are so fast to criticize books. It seems so simple when you're holding the finished thing in your hands. You never see all of the steps in between- all of the grief and stress and doubt and worry and fear that goes into creating a novel. You just see the finished product. When I think of writing novels, I think of John Green. I think of "The Fault In Our Stars". And I think "He created that. All of it. John Green created Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. He created two beautiful lives. With his mind." And I think "Writing a novel is huge."
When I say "Nobody gives writing half the credit it deserves", I'm also talking about the people writing those novels. They get to page 336 and they think "I don't know what to do next. What if I never finish?" and they think "I'm a failure. This stupid thing (because it doesn't deserve to be called a novel) is literally the worst thing I've ever read in my entire life. And I'm the one who made it." But COME ON! Even if is utter crap the person still filled 336 pages with words! That takes dedication! That takes passion, thought, imagination, and a whole dump-truck full of stubbornness. Writers are the most stubborn people you will ever meet. But let me tell you one thing- stubbornness is good. It gets you places. Stubbornness is what gets worthless pieces of utter crap made into best-selling novels.
Day Thirty-Four Song Recommendation: "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles.
-SE Wagner
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