Bloodletting
Most writers know this famous quote:
There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
I love it, because that pretty much sums up the process for me.
The funny thing is, some books are deeply personal. The Roofer was one of those that drained a few veins. Invisible Girl was another. And some, it may seem, on the surface of things, to be less of a phlebotomy exercise. Spanish Disco was funny. I felt like I was writing a stand-up routine. But that doesn't mean it didn't make me bleed. In fact, some of what I was saying--or trying to say--about grief and loss have become even more meaningful over the last few months.
There is simply, I don't think, a way to write that doesn't involve bloodletting, intense emotions, a difficult process punctuated by moments of sheer joy.
Anyone else feel like opening a vein is an apt description for what we do?
There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
I love it, because that pretty much sums up the process for me.
The funny thing is, some books are deeply personal. The Roofer was one of those that drained a few veins. Invisible Girl was another. And some, it may seem, on the surface of things, to be less of a phlebotomy exercise. Spanish Disco was funny. I felt like I was writing a stand-up routine. But that doesn't mean it didn't make me bleed. In fact, some of what I was saying--or trying to say--about grief and loss have become even more meaningful over the last few months.
There is simply, I don't think, a way to write that doesn't involve bloodletting, intense emotions, a difficult process punctuated by moments of sheer joy.
Anyone else feel like opening a vein is an apt description for what we do?
Labels: quotes about writing, writing process
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:52 AM
8 Comments:
Hi Erica:
I think fiction, for me, starts out as blood on the page; but, when it's really working, when things start clicking and the characters do unexpected things, when it seems almost as though you're taking dictation from some unknown source, it assumes a life of its own. It has its own pulse, if you will. More like a child that has to be nurtured and loved and caressed and, yes, even spanked sometimes. It becomes more than just our blood on the page. It becomes a separate, detached, breathing thing, and--if we've done a somewhat adequate job--something that stands a chance of survival in the world.
Jude:
Well, since I don't believe in spanking children, that doesn't quite work as metaphor for me. But I get it . . . Interesting way to look at it.
E
There was an old sci-fi movie, Scanners, released in the early 80s, I think.
The movie depicted mind readers who could scan the minds of others, and if the scanning went too far, the head of the person being read would explode.
One of the scanners had a scar on his forehead, from where he had attempted to drill a hole to let the voices out.
At times, either or both of the techniques above sometimes feels as if they apply.
Hmmm, now, WHERE did I hide those power tools?
Kathy:
OMG, I SAW that schlock film and yes! I can relate. :-)
Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it
Eeewww and OMG. Jude, I will never, and I mean never, watch Scanners again. Not to mention, no more power tools for me. Shudder....
SO beyond gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Truth is stranger than fiction every time.
E
The practice is more widespread than you might think. Look here.
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