Like all the art that has taken place on this planet, writing is a passion that most writers feel compelled to do. We live in an era of people who “have a book to sell” and these people who do are usually famous people who have their books written for them. Add to the famous people, the political pundits, the weight loss gurus, the philosophical oddballs and it is easy to be overwhelmed by what is out there. Indeed, we happily slash forests and burn fossil fuel to load up Kindles with everything from romance, fiction, historical fiction, history and the list goes on and on. Then don’t forget the people long dead, who have written as well and it is very obvious that one person in this lifetime will never be able to read all the books out there.
The question then is why write at all? If the words are a flood, why add to it? I think that is a good question to ask. For me, the basic reason writing is so wonderful is that it is all about telling a story. That people have some familiarity with an author only helps enhance that storytelling.
In the case of memoirs, it is twofold, the telling of a story and that wonderful insight into the everyday thinking of a human being. Nothing else can really do it better justice than something written authentically by another person. Especially an artist. How interesting it would have been if Elvis himself kept a journal or wrote a memoir. What insights into the person would we learn? What commonality would we find and feel a sense of kinship.
I have always felt compelled to write. And writing has always been about that kinship, the storytelling and more importantly the humor found in being alive. In fact, connection through my art community is one of the main missions of living an artistic life, if not the main mission.
One of my mindful goals this year is to finally get that memoir, Rose Farm Road, across the finish line. I think the stories contained within will not only entertain and get people to laugh but perhaps provide a little bit of consolation as we all journey through this life. Even the best fiction is fabricated from fact and feeling. The feeling part of writing is where authors have an advantage over other artists. While a singer can write a confessional song, it is really geared toward the idea that the song can be shared and perhaps even sung by another person. Art is also open to interpretation. What a great person like Michaelangelo was thinking while carving David would need something written by him to be understood.
Sure, we have interviews, articles and broadcasts on folks, but a good memoir, a good story is something that is honest, sincere and bedecked with foibles and blemishes. And even though we live in a world where “everyone has one book to write” it behooves us to have people who can write really well. Because even if we all have a book to write, it doesn’t mean we should. That all these books are out there points to the fact there are plenty of people out there who are willing to write for you and at you, unfortunately. F. Scott Fitzgerald summed it up with this quote “You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you’ve got something to say.”
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