I love the song 9 peoples favorite
thing where they sing “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing then a
hundred people’s ninth favorite thing”. We all want to create the work of art
that reaches transcendence and touches people on such a deep level that they
carry it around for the rest of their lives. There’s a part of my soul, the
artist part, that wants to create something of transcendent beauty. Since I’m
also a realist I mostly just try to write good books, and if I’m ridiculously lucky
great might happen along the way.
I always swear to people that I'm not
trying for literary greatness. After all, I’m not really of a literary enough
bent to win awards. That doesn't stop me in my heart of hearts from hoping that
it will happen. That something I write will be the next Watership Down or
Redwall and inspire others in the way those books inspired me.
If this were just a closet fantasy of
mine I think it could be excused. Sadly it's more then that. There is a little
voice inside my head that whispers that the work I'd doing is never good enough
because it doesn't hold up to that standard. Yes, the one where what I'm
writing RIGHT THIS MINUTE must be as amazing as every book that has ever
inspired me! So I stop writing. Or I slow down, dithering over a section like
it's the most important thing ever put to a word processor.
So here it is, the real truth. I'm
giving myself permission to suck. To never write a masterpiece. Because there's
no way I can sit down to create The Great American Novel. I just have to write
my own.
P.S. Because it is awesome, here is the
song 9 people's favorite thing:
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