I’ve been absent lately – I wanted to apologize to you guys for this. It’s been a hectic month, I’ve been busy lately, new life, trying to make new friends, keeping up with old ones. I’ve had a couple projects as of late, unfortunately National Novel Writing Month was not among them. I’d like to do it some year, but definitely not this year.
There is a man who decorates his house so much for Christmas that there’s a glow on the horizon from his house a kilometre and a half away. Every single year he wins the local competition for the house decorations – and while there is money involved, the money usually only covers the cost of the decorations and electricity to run them.
I wondered if he did it for recognition, but the reason he said he did it was because he loved doing it. It was something that didn’t start as entering the competition; he did it because he enjoyed the holiday and the decorations. He liked how people would smile at his house, how it brightened their season a little bit. Thinking back to that this Christmas it reminds me – that’s why I write. Not because I want to be published or recognize. I do it for myself – I can’t not write. I still enjoy the reactions I get when people read my writing, but that’s not why I do it.
Literature and writing is a strange field. Many people that claim to be writers when asked what they read, I’ve often heard the response, “oh I’m not that into books.” Or worse, “I don’t know, I’ve never actually finished a book.” These statements are made almost as points of pride for the person saying them – as if they hadn’t been tainted by other peoples writing.
If you asked a musician what music they were into and they told you they didn’t listen to music, you’d laugh – probably in their face. If a criminal lawyer didn’t follow case law – he’d be unemployed. So why would someone who claims to be a writer not read? The books and literature you expose yourself to are the different sounds a musician can hear, the different precedents set by case law decisions. The more a person reads the more words they learn, the more grammar they understand, the more tools they have at their disposal. Maybe it sounds elitist, but books are online, are in libraries, are all around us. We all have the opportunity to learn – if you want to.
Cait
