Definitely Not My Idea

This is all Luna's fault, like pretty much everything that happens to me these days. "Scrivy thou shalt do this" and "Scrivy thou shalt do that" and when I argue I end up with a hoof in my face. But, well. It passes the time and I suppose it's better than nothing. We live as exiles, after all, and it gives me something to do apart from writing morose poetry and getting beaten up by Luna.So let's jump right in. Writing with Scrivener Blooms. It's like a cooking show, except it sucks. And you can't eat it, unless you have a thing for paper. I wouldn't recommend it, though. I've had enough of my own parchment shoved down my throat literally and figuratively to know it's pretty damn tasteless, and poems make for godawful horrible flavoring in most cases.


First of all, a question I'm asked every now and then: "Scrivy, how do you write?" And the answer is pretty simple. I sit down. And I write. No, I'm not being a jerk. Well, okay, I'm being a little bit of a jerk right now but seriously, you get ordered to go and share your thoughts with the apathetic world by your evil wife and see how you feel. Okay, okay, okay. First of all, if you want to write, there's something way more important than having an idea, having a good feeling, even having a good grasp of words and concepts and mechanical nonsense like spelling and grammar. Motivation to write can and will come to essentially anyone who reads, takes a slight interest in it, or even just is sitting around one day, looking for something to do, if a good idea hits. It isn't motivation to start that's important; it's the discipline to carry through and keep writing.


Anyone can write. Anyone can be as good a writer as me... well. Actually. Most people are already better writers than me. Seriously, do you know how I write? It's a process of mumbling words to myself and running them together and literally just hoping for the best. And writing is truly subjective: there are good writers, and bad writers, but to one person all the good writers of the world might be bad and all the bad writers of the world might be good, which leads into another point that's important to remember from the start: write for sake of writing. Not for the sake of people liking you, or liking it, or for flank-pats. Share it if you're comfortable, use the criticism you receive to grow and evolve your writing, and enjoy the good comments that come, but at the end of the day, always write for yourself first, always follow your own ideas, no matter how stupid and crazy they may seem. Believe me. You'll feel a whole lot prouder of the story... and while nice comments and exaltations are a momentary thrill, that thrill wears off really fast, and leaves you way more vulnerable to the sting of nasty words. If you're able to take joy in the very act of writing, in looking at what you've accomplished, then you don't need any of that extra praise to feel good about yourself. Nice as it can be, yeah.


So writing lesson one. Discipline is the key to success, and do your best to write for yourself first and foremost and find the enjoyment and the serenity that comes with that. We'll get back to both these subjects later when I can find the time for another post. For now, I'm going to go and childishly put peanut butter in Luna's helmet.


~Scrivener Blooms