First off, big news today as Amazon has released a Kindle application for the iPhone. It is, well, kind of mindblowing. I downloaded the app, signed into my Amazon account, and every book I purchased on my Kindle was instantly available to me on my iPhone. Better yet, I navigated to the book I’m currently reading and it picked up to the exact page where I had left off on my Kindle!! Wow. Wow wow. My apologies to SF Muni employees, who are probably still finding pieces of my exploded head.
Of course, I don’t find iPhones particularly easy to read on for long stretches, so I’m still glad I have a Kindle and its e-ink screen, but this will be awesome in a pinch. The main drawback is that they don’t have direct shopping through the App and you have to buy books either through your Kindle or on the Internet.
Now then. To continue positivity week: a simple question with an infinite range of possible answers.
What do you love about writing?
Marilyn Peake says
I love photography, and am fascinated by the extraordinary beauty in the work of the National Geographic photographers. I’ve watched behind-the-scenes documentaries of some of their lives and how they suffer for their art. One photographer had been through a long list of illnesses contracted on the job. Another had been bitten, even in the eyes, by a swarm of bugs, as he caught stunning images of animals in the trees of a tropical location. Others had waded through muddy water with bloodsucking leeches attached to their legs. Despite all that misery, their joy in telling meaningful stories through extraordinary photographs was apparent.
Being a writer is a bit like that … though not quite as punishing, since we can do our work in a comfortable chair wearing flannel pj’s and pink bunny slippers if we choose. Our suffering comes from years of isolation and frustration, and side effects like migraine headaches and back pain.
A writer’s artwork has to be wrestled out of their mind one imaginative spark at a time and turned into a coherent story with captivating language and correct form. When I accomplish that, it’s thrilling.
My Top Ten List of things I love about writing:
1.) Coming up with a passage that works: when the words sound like art and the story continues to flow.
2.) Days when it seems like I’ve turned a key in the door to a magical kingdom, those wonderfully euphoric days when the story unfolds quickly and the words flow without pause.
3.) Completing a work and beginning to submit it for publication.
4.) Having a book or short story accepted for publication.
5.) Seeing the book cover artwork for the new publication.
6.) Receiving positive reviews or winning awards for my writing … because that temporarily releases me from my writer’s isolation and lets me know that others have enjoyed my work.
7.) Chatting with other writers online.
8.) Working constantly to improve my work.
9.) The sheer joy of art and creativity.
10.) Doing research for something I’m writing, and finding specific information that adds important layers to the story.
Michael Pickett says
Where do I start? Letting my imagination go wild; keeping that imagination under control and coherent; telling a great story; moving readers in a meaningful way; giving life to the characters I have running around in my head; taking something I’ve written that I thought was good, finding out that it isn’t good, and making it good (I have only recently been converted to the joys of revision); that sense of accomplishment that comes after finishing something that was hard and took a long time.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. I have to get back to writing.
Robin Constantine says
I love how one word can make a difference.
I love getting lost in the “writing zone”.
And I love it when characters come out of nowhere to take over a scene.
Last but not least, (cue the puppies and the rainbow) I love that writing has brought me together with some of the coolest and most interesting people I know. (I’m talking real flesh and blood, not fictional, although they can be pretty cool too.)
wonderer says
Getting hit by that “Ohhhh, so that’s what happens/that’s how that ties in!” moment.
Coming up with plot twists that make me cackle evilly.
Taking elements of books I love to read and creating another one out of thin air that someone else might love too.
Telling stories and getting to live different lives.
Rereading and thinking “Hey, this is pretty good after all.”
Feeling that I have a sense of purpose.
jimnduncan says
I love being able to bring to life the strange and wonderful things my imagination comes up with. If only computers could take that directly out of your head and put it on the page. Though, perhaps the Kindle will soon be able to beam novels directly into your brain.
Michelle Moran says
The research involved in writing historical fiction is one of my favorite aspects of writing.
There are so wonderful countries you end up visiting and places you would never see otherwise…
Martin Willoughby says
Using my imagination.
Cam says
@ D.A.A. Price –
“LMAO!”
David Fields says
Telling a story that nobody else has told.
Mandajuice says
Writing is like closed-captioning for my soul. Sure, I could turn it off and just watch the pictures race by on the screen, but I might miss something. The words make everything clearer and in looking for the RIGHT words, I find that I experience the real world in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Nikki Hootman says
I could name a hundred things… but currently, what I love about writing is how I can get so close to a character that I could tell you anything about him or her. I could tell you what he did on his sixth birthday, or when he would use the word “shit” instead of “crap,” or whether he likes Burger King or McDonald’s better. To me, writing is almost like being able to construct people. It’s like classic sculpture or DaVinci’s anatomical sketches, but with extra dimensions.
So, I guess what I’m really saying is, I like to play God.
NP says
I love making connections with readers. Of developing characters that readers can relate to (or despise), places that readers swear they’ve been, and stories that readers are sure were taken from their own lives.
Laura Handy says
You know that feeling when you’re reading a book that is so good you can’t wait to get back to it? You rush through everything just so you can curl up with it and continue reading it?
I get that same feeling when I’m engrossed in my own writing, and it’s awesome!
Kristin Laughtin says
Among a million other things, I like getting my ideas out of my head and into some tangible form. Even if it never sells, I have something I can point to or refer back to and say, “I did this.” I like stories, but keeping them in my head doesn’t require me to think critically about them. Writing them out forces me to draw connections, develop plot points, and so on, leading to a richer imaginative experience than just replaying my favorite scenes in my head over and over.
Anna says
oh my goodness…
telling a tale… exploring a character… using words to explain feelings, colours, sounds…
too many reasons I suppose. never thought about it in depth… a blog post for tonight, perhaps…
Thomas Burchfield says
Taking the thrilling adventures that thrive in my mind and making them fly, gallop, run, dance, stroll, strut and walk over the page.
Laughing when I write something funny.
Shuddering when I write something scary.
Tearing up when I write something moving.
Grinning when I write something sly or clever.
Finding the perfect word for the perfect paragraph for the perfect page for the perfect chapter for the perfect book.
And then rewriting it all over again until I find the perfect word for the . . . .
Writing the book I want to read that no one else can write but me.
“a-HA! That’s it!”
“Chapter One”
“The End”
Dreamers Dream says
creating your own universe
just with a sprinkle of your very own imagination.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
My Words In Your Mouth
My favorite part of writing is hearing someone use my words in order to talk about something they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to talk about…until I gave them the words.
That’s what I love!
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
Hi Nikki,
Re: “To me, writing is almost like being able to construct people. It’s like classic sculpture or DaVinci’s anatomical sketches, but with extra dimensions.”
Nice way of expressing it.
Wanda B.
Lisa Schroeder says
I love getting near the end, not knowing exactly how everything is going to work out, and sometimes having to struggle to figure out, and then, when it hits me, WOW! It's an incredible feeling making the story worth reading, finding a little something that will surprise the reader, and getting to the satisfying end. I <3 it, Nathan!!!
Roland says
It’s weird that scientist have finally invented magic. The Shazam app on the Iphone blows my mind more than a real life Captain Marvel could.
Mary Anne says
The newest thing I love about writing ties in with your comments about Amazon and the Kindle. I love that Amazon has given writers a way to market their work directly to readers.
I’ve uploaded my work to Kindle and Mobipocket (Amazon all). Now readers are actually enjoying the books that were previously just gathering dust on my hard drive.
A Kindle app for the i-phone? New technology in this economy that helps writers make money?
What do I love about writing? These days Amazon is near the top of that list.
Mira says
Okay.
I hate to interrupt such a fascinating discussion, but I’d like to follow-up with our conversation, Nathan.
I noticed there wasn’t a signing contract in my e-mail this morning.
Which was really weird. After all, I triple-dog dared you, and then yesterday I told you that – although I havn’t written a darn thing – I did have a few ideas.
What gives? What more could you possibly want? I thought and thought and thought….and then…..
I saw it. I saw the truth. I saw the terrible, horrible truth.
The terrible horrible truth is this. I lied to you. I did. I lied. And you knew it. Somehow, you knew it. So, of course you wouldn’t want to go into business with a liar. Who would?
Not you, that’s who.
So, I apologize. I apologize for lying to you.
I told you I hadn’t written a darn thing but I did have a few ideas.
That’s not true. I admit it. It’s not true.
Here’s the truth:
Let me just take a deep breath.
The truth: I really, completely, totally and absolutely haven’t written a darn thing. But I don’t have a few ideas. I really don’t. I have exactly 49.5 ideas. I counted.
Calling 49.5 ideas a few ideas is a bald-face lie. I admit that now.
But there’s a silver lining to this shadow of darkness. The good news is that out of 49.5 ideas, there’s probably a good percent chance that at least one of them is semi-decent.
(Actually, there’s a 33.2 percent chance one of those ideas is halfway decent. How do I know it’s 33.2 percent? I made it up. I’d calculate the actual percentage, but I have no idea how to do that.)
So anyway, I feel much better now. A great weight is lifted off of my shoulders. Thank you. Thank you for your ‘tough love’ Nathan. I can see how I really, really needed that.
Almost as much as I really, really need a signing contract. Okay – an honest guarantee of at least one half-way decent idea. How can you turn that down, Nathan?
Well, you can’t, of course. I’ll look for the signing contract in the morning.
Okay, that should do it.
MelissaPEA says
I love how writing makes me feel inadequate, unstable, and confused on a daily basis.
Nathan Bransford says
mira-
I’m never one to interrupt a good conversation, even if it’s a conversation of one.
Mira says
Nathan –
I’m not quite sure how to read that. Does that mean you’d like me to stop interrupting?
I’ll respect that, and interrupt my own fun, if I must….
Nathan Bransford says
Mira-
Not what I meant.
Mira says
Nathan –
Oh good.
I have plans.
Lupina says
Nathan, very clever of you to get US to provide the puppies and kittens today.
What I love about writing:
Going to work in my gingerbread man pajamas.
The moment when the story is finally out of my head and on paper and it has a beginning, a middle and an end…fiction and non-fiction.
Royalty checks, no matter how small.
Alexa says
Oh so many things! The evolution of my characters, losing myself in a world I’ve created, how fast the time goes when I write, taking words out, putting words in, trying to capture feelings and sensations in new ways, getting to guarantee a happy ending 🙂
scruffdiva says
MelissaPEA, I love what you said. I echo that. Writing really is a painful joy, like a euphoria that empties me. I was never good at math in the numeric sense but writing definitely feels like the most successful attempt at word equations that one could hope for.
Roscoe James says
The creative process. Making something out of a few simple tools.
Marilyn Peake says
Mira and Nathan,
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee, I would have spit it all over my computer keyboard, laughing. I wish that I could also interrupt your discussion … but I’m too confused. 🙂
The stock market is finally up today. Is there a positivity rainbow spreading across the land?
Tricia says
getting published
K says
Writing heal me. It’s not a matter of choice it’s a matter of a calling. I can only hope my words help heal others.
Phil Ruggiero says
Unlike so many of you, I don’t have characters – I have ideas and ways to hopefully improve the quality of people’s lives during these ‘interesting’ times.
I seek to make the world just a bit better for having been in it. It’s a big goal, but certainly one worth pursuing. Does it get any better than for a complete stranger to thank you for inspiring them?
I can only do that through writing.
MACS says
Delurking to say: yes, yes, yes and all of that. As usual I can’t improve upon or add much to that which the others have already said.
I love the epiphany at the beginning, when the whole work reveals itself in a flash of insight or a dream. The reason why.
I love weaving the tapestry of plot and character. Going back and adding gold threads and gems.
Getting lost in another world. The surprises.
Being in the zone.
I love the sense of belonging that comes from reading NB’s blog. I am not alone.
Richard Lewis says
I’ve just read Eric Clapton’s autobiography. He speaks of finally breaking through his alcoholism by getting down on his knees and letting his pride be broken. Every mornking since he has gotten down on his knees asking for help and every night the same with gratitude for the gift of sobriety.
What does this have to do with writing?
I think it can be reversed a little. However it is we humans were blessed with language and with writing — whether God or just a fantastic universe that allowed it to happen — we should every morning give a little shout out (or grudging grump, sometimes, because writing is hardly ever easy) that this is something we can do, and every night say thanks to Whoever or Whatever for what we did write.
Me personally, I’ve done a lot of other things in my life, but I’m most happy when unhappily writing.
Then I go surfing.
Stacey says
Not that anyone reads the comments after there are this many other than maybe Nathan…but…
The thing I love about writing is the ability to show that experience is not a bad thing. Life should not be perfect, nor should the actions in a novel. If it is, it is just plain boring! Even fairy tales have opposition!
Barbara's blog says
I love going back and editing–making the words flow more smoothly, re-living what I’ve written, being inside my characters’ minds. I watched the movie “Stranger Than Fiction” where a writer’s protagonist is a real person. She plans to kill him and he finds out. That’s just how real my characters are to me. Only another writer can understand. People who don’t write think we’re just a little strange.
Mira says
Marilyn, interrupt away.
But I’m sorry you’re confused. I can explain. I want Nathan to give me a signing contact based on the fact that I have a half-way decent idea.
He hasn’t signed me yet. I’m pretty sure that’s because he’s playing hard to get. I can respect that. It’s important not to seem too eager.
So, we’re continuing our dialogue.
There, see? Not confusing at all.
BTW, I loved your top ten things that you liked about being a writer. And thanks for all the positivity this week – the links and everything. Very cool. 🙂
Kate says
A lot of people I know escape into these dramas that are quite popular over the past few years: everything from Desperate Housewives; Prison Break; Lost; Heroes; etc. At some point they might talk about what they think will happen next. It is this sense that they know the characters so well that they feel they could write the next episode.
I feel that way when I write. Developing the characters is great, but there is an even greater feeling when the characters I have created are taking on their own lives and for the most part I am taking dictation while they write themselves.
Another thing is what my fantasy life has always been for me. As a child I had a super active fantasy life and a pretty lonely, misfit real life. If someone hurt my feelings or made me feel small in some way, I relived that experience in my fantasies to make things right. Now I make things write. I fix whats wrong in my world with my fantasies and they become integrated into my writing.
I passionately love love love writing.
I just started writing about two years ago, (working on my second novel) but have felt like it was absolutely right for me since I began. Unfortunately I also have to make a living so my time to write is minimal. I dream of a future where I can make writing my full time job.
KD says
Beta readers demanding “the next book NOW!”
Characters who make me laugh out loud.
Snickering as I type. (Writers, am I right? You know what I mean…)
Getting run over by a steamrol–I mean, a new story.
Grapeshot/Odette says
I love to see the idea take form and the characters come to life and from the little germ a manuscript comes forth and after much tweaking and many rewrites and edits the manuscript becomes something worth sending into the world, and I can think, “ye gods, I’ve written another book.”
Linda says
The high of infinite possibilities… Peace, Linda
Stef Kramer says
revealing, hiding, pretending, not pretending, racing your fingers across a keyboard while your mind chases a thought, discovering something about yourself you never knew and creating fates for characters in attempt to tell a meaningful story for anyone who cares to read it.
Deb Lehman says
I love word play. I love bringing a character and scene to life. I love writing really good dialogue. I love making my readers laugh or cry. I love seeing my name in print.
Karen H. says
The process. I love seeing where the story is going as I write it. Every time I write, I feel like I’m writing something I’d like to read and so I get a double bonus as a reader and writer. Great question.
jil says
I love getting inside my character’s minds and finding out why they do the sometimes outlandish things they do. Also I love the hours of returning to somewhere I have loved in the past as I always, at the start of writing a new novel, choose such a place for my setting.
Writing is also a reason to explore and study every moment in life as who knows when I might need it.
Hal Alpiar says
I love that writing is such a powerful avenue for self-expression, that it serves as my shrink, and that everytime I pick up my pen or poke at my keyboard, I face a new opportunity to teach, learn, entertain, amuse, persuade, provoke, and leave my mark on planet Earth.
I love that I can write as easily in the middle of rush hour at Grand Central Station as tucked into a Belize rainforest riverbank surrounded by wildlife. I love that I can write in parked cars, supermarkets, standing in lines, and sometimes in the dark when a middle-of-the-night idea demands the notepad next to my bed.
I am a seven days-a-week career writer. Forty years of daily drafts and rewrites stand behind me — from books, business plans, blogs, and billboards, to scripts, curricula, and advertising jingles. And I am madly in love with the unique life experiences and challenges these writing missions have provided.
It is of course the call to exceed my own expectations that underlies my purpose in rising with each sunrise…to outperform myself with a better blog post or Twitter Tweet than yesterday, a better feature story, a better love letter.
A well-known college baseball coach teaches players to focus on the fact that every hit and every pitch is always just between each of them and the ball. Writing is always just between my fingers and my brain, and neither ever lets the other down.
What’s not to love about writing?