Newsletter Articles by Niki Chanel: Write… or Die Trying

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009

I write, therefore I am… a writer.

Well, maybe not. Everybody writes; email, Facebook, Twitter, grocery list, thank you cards…

One could say “I’m a speaker.” But taking your part in the dinner conversation doesn’t make you a ‘Speaker’. One cannot claim the respect from chores: ‘I’m a cook’. ‘I’m a painter’. ‘I’m a care-giver’. ‘I’m a driver’. ‘I’m a listener’. (Actually, that one’s pretty cool - we need more of those!) The average mom is all of these, and more, but she does not get the titles.

Yet, it is true that we give a title to one who gets paid for that occupation: a greasy spoon chef is a cook, a teenager hired to paint houses is a painter, a paid baby-sitter is a care-giver, an ice cream truck operator is a driver and a psychiatrist is a listener.

We also give the title to one that follows their heart and applies their talent to a hobby: ‘I’m a gardener’ or ‘I’m a collector’, though oddly, society don’t give someone the title ‘Writer’ even if it is their hobby.

Sometimes it seems that if you’re not published, you’re not the real deal – “not a real writer”. Then one day we meet someone who wrote a family heritage manuscript and they tell us they are finished with the project, and furthermore: “I’m never doin’ that again” and we say to ourselves “not an actual writer; more like a one-hit-wonder.” But what does this mean? Isn’t it “once a writer, always a writer?” Apparently not; stricken from the ranks of membership, “they used to write”.

So, what really is a writer?

I think anyone who cannot live without a keyboard, an unlimited texting cell phone, a pen & notebook, a scrap of paper and pencil (or even a recording device like the Light-Scribe pen), are probably writers – even if they don’t know it themselves - they must write or die. Without the writing, there is not writer. Without the words, the writer dies inside.

When you get right down to it, a writer is a storyteller. However, a writer is not just someone who tells their stories, they have to be someone who has the gift of gab and puts their stories where their word processor is; one who produces a product that can be read. That’s the genuine article.

“So what? Why is this distinction important? Why should we define ourselves by the outside world? Why should we care how others define us?”

Because when you know Who you are, you can move on to What is going on with you; you will have a clear idea of Where you are heading, When you expect to get there and then, like magic, the How becomes obvious… the spelling it out, penning the plight, doing the Nitty-Gritty dance over a hot keyboard is what it takes to connect with the reader – the ultimate test; because if it is not written, it cannot be read.

“So, you’re saying a writer is someone who has finished a story?”

Not exactly… but close, for a right of passage is required first. Only after that fateful moment when an individual is seized by the addiction to the pen, until they hear voices of characters, until they feel the unrelenting emotion and drive to tell the story, until it becomes a religion to them does one become a true writer and they will never stop. At that moment The Word penetrates their soul, the word is Write!

“But can’t I be a writer before I publish?”

Of course; after all, one must start somewhere.

“Must I be defined as society sees me?”

You will be whether you like it or not. Be true to yourself – the addict, and they will see it in you.

It sounds simple because the truth is always simple: Society demands proof. If you want others to think of you as a writer then your goal pretty much has to be getting published - as proof. For that, you need to let your addiction take hold and consume you. Day and night put those words to paper. Write. Plan the plot. Write. Develop those characters and arcs. Write. Describe those settings, do the research for reality checks, tag lines, the blurbs, the synopsis... uh oh, sounds complicated again.

To cure the myriad of symptomatic details, the only antidote is to write. As simple as it sounds our inner temporal world is volatile and transitory – yet we can’t possibly write at the speed of thought. Forgive yourself and get the main words down; take a reality break then return to add colour, taste, smell, wallpaper and that look in his eyes. In the final assessment, the simplicity lies in the heart of the story – the one that’s in your veins – the story of you. Your point of view, your experiences, your loves and heart breaks, your recipes are all what make you the storyteller and it’s the words you use to create these emotions in others is what makes you a Writer. The writer’s job is to pull the tree of truth, roots and all, out of our souls and transplant it into the real world, the world of coffee and babies, of traffic and peas, of criticism and compassion. Our story is for this world to be left in legacy as an education left like a keyhole into our mind’s theatre for others to peer through to, enjoy and cherish. We must not take it with us. So we must purge, eject, spew, regurgitate, erupt, wretch and spit it out any way we can. Go ahead and nurture it – with the words of your notes. Research it – with words in your computer. Add the twist later when the characters know each other - with words on paper. Ask your muse – they’ll tell you. Trust your muse – they will guide you. But the truth remains: the story will never be published until you finish it.

The moral? To be a writer, one must write – every day. For the world to give you the title ‘Writer’ you must publish. So finish the damn book!

Then you get to be… an author!