Friday, August 24, 2012

Guest Post -- Rob Andrews

Morning All,

Today I have Rob Andrews, the author of Wispy telling us what Writing To Him is
--x--
I thought about this for a few moments and thought to myself, is this a test?  Perhaps Orangeberry is actually a means for separating the literary wheat from the chaff?  The real writers will eschew the use of a pre-fab list and let their vivid imaginations have play across the full field of possibilities that float in the collective ether we inhabit when we begin our author/reader dance.  

Somewhere, I imagined a secret panel, a board of august publishers, agents and editors, ensconced in some suitably high-tech and atmospheric chamber, who looked upon the Orangeberry Summer Splash and nodded sagaciously as one poor schmuck after another took the bait and went down the path of non-creativity.  I can see their silver heads, heavy with the weight of countless years of experience nodding in sad unison as writer after writer succumbs to the option not to take the road less travelled.  With a resigned air, they shuffle another marker into the cosmic slush pile of those who failed to make the lowest standard; the pikers who balked at the most basic test they could provide. 

            “Didn’t even choose their own topic?”  the lady on the left murmurs, the rhetorical question hanging unanswered in the blue smoke of the lofty chamber (writing judges also hold in contempt the non smoking laws that apply to lesser humans.)

            “Who’s next?” asks the silver haired governor as he pours a Hemingwayesque tot of Teacher’s scotch.

            “Deplorable.”  Snorts a rheumy eyed octogenarian, tugging unconsciously at his bow-tie, his glance already extended to the next participant like a prayer.

Of course, I could be completely wrong … sooooo

Writing to me is … a dance.

When I write, we get to dance – you and I.  How did we get on the same dance card?  You picked up what I wrote.
When you did, you joined me on the dance floor.
I wrote the music and set out what I thought the steps would be, but you brought your own interpretations to the dance and subtly created nuances I never envisioned and in so doing, altered the dance; changed how you navigated the space I had created for us.

When I write, the characters and I get to dance – they and I.  As most writers know, we, like Viktor Frankenstein, created them, but once given life, they can become … unpredictable.  They say the darnedest things.  They take the story and the plot and themselves into places we hadn’t at first imagined for them.  It is the best part of writing for me – watching them pull tendrils of connections from our collective ether and weave a richer and more integrated tale by their thoughts, words and deeds. 

Dancing fits.

I sure hope I was wrong about that panel though …
--x--

What is writing to you? A stress buster, a much needed tool to speak up, ...??? Do let me know.

Don't forget to join the give-away here:

with warm regards
Abhishek Boinapalli 

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