TECH: Nanowrimo Notes #18: Quoth the Bradbury?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Keep Writing

Bradbury says, "And what, you ask, does writing teach us?"

The silly little ego responds, "I don't know, what does it teach us?"

Bradbury says, "First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right...."

The ego whistles, and looks around, with a deep breath.

And, Bradbury continues, "Second, writing is survival.... not to write, for many of us, is to die."

The ego looks serious, at least for a moment.

Bradbury says, "We must take arms each and every day, perhaps knowing that the battle cannot be entirely won, but fight we must, if only a gentle bout. The smallest effort to win means, at the end of each day, a sort of victory..."

The ego hears the faint far cry of trumpets, the clash of arms, the thump of armored feet.

Bradbury adds, "But what would happen is that the world would catch up with and try to sicken you. If you did not write every day, the poisons would accumulate and you would begin to die, or act crazy, or both."

The ego fetches out a pencil and paper, and looks expectant.

Bradbury concludes, "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

Ray Bradbury, preface to Zen in the Art of Writing

Keep on writing, dear friends, so that reality does not destroy you.

Leap into the abyss . . . and see what happens!