I read a short piece of fiction the other day, by a writer who does a heap of great poetry but doesn't do fiction in the short story format. It was an inspiring read, and left me thinking - why don't they do more? They're good at it, and godknows the world needs it. I know need it. And it doesn't matter how big the readership is, an audience of one is all it takes to justify it.
All of which got me thinking - why do we do it at all?
First up, people who write, can't NOT do it. As I've said before, we have this this overwhelming need - compulsion even - to write down "stories". That compulsion is what I see as "The Ghost", that restless force living in our fingertips, forever trying to make sense of Life, because, for me, it's only in seeing my thoughts go down on the page that I have half a chance at grasping what I'm really seeing/hearing/feeling. And I like passing those discoveries on, just in case I hit a tender point in one of my fellow travellers.
This came particularly clear the other day, with my current writing project, which I touched on a week or so back. That "Blokes & Sheds" book got me thinking about what a "shed" is, to me. At first I found it sort of "fun", to wallow in a little memory, of things - blokey things - I did in my various sheds. But the deeper I'm into it the more complex it's become, and it's turning into (The Ghost taking over!!) a minor epic of - of - Life. My life. And it's become something of a mirror, of some depth, casting back at me the realities of past events, sort of - framing a perspective. A context. The Ghost is leading me to clearer images of who I am and how I arrived at this point.
Now, at first glance you'd think - but not all short fiction is about oneself. But the truth is - it's always about yourself. It's about how you see the world, and indirectly (sometimes not so indirectly), your place in it.
So, my fellow compulsive writer, don't let up! Our gift - affliction? - is a good thing. It improves the world, one creative word at a time.
Cheers....
Trev
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