Listen...Learn

I’m just back from my “Earth” ‘Lunch’. Today I decided to read something new. I took with me an essay written by Stephen King called “Everything you need to know about successful writing in ten minutes”. What amazed me about it besides the simplicity, and here I tap myself on the back is that I was well on my way all along. The rules are simple, do it naturally, simply and enjoy it. I think I ask myself too often what I’m doing and where I would end up. Taking criticism to heart from anyone who appears to delve into a somewhat literary critique of my work and ignoring the nods of “It’s really good Krys.”


I have yet to write a serious piece where a number of people pin point a specific area they all have a problem with. One or two disagreements in the placements of words is not a bad thing. They are also not set-in-stone-end-of-my-career opinions. Giving up come too easily for me. Of course I disregard the “nonsense” pieces, the ones that were written as pure venting. However, the serious ones, the ones that came to me in dreams and whispered to me while I did something else unconnected in every way I re-read, re-write, take a black sharpie to, to make sure I’m saying exactly what, not so much me as the character needs to say.


So I have a glimpse of what my first novel will be. Ironic is that the story is about a writer being visited by her character, trying his best to get her to tell his story. To paint him the way he really is. Sound familiar? I started writing it 2 years ago and for some reason I can’t seem to finish it. I’ve lost it and written it over. It is cause of this stubbornness I’ve decided it has to be a novel. There was so much depth under that little story, so much to tell. The thought of a novel scares me so very much. It deserves the kind of devotion and discipline that I think I lack totally. In high school my cousin taught me art. I remember her saying in that slightly bored high pitch tone of hers “Who Krys? She just lazy. Anything she can’t do in 20 minutes so don’t do.” Sadly she was right. I’ve proven that to myself over and over as I grew older. Mrs. Brodber my short story writing teacher in Jamaica told me “Krys you need to concentrate you too lazy man.” We would sit in class, she would give us a topic, then 3 hrs to write a story. After 20 mins I’ll be done.
“Yuh sure yuh done?”
“Yes miss”
We’ll get the night to think it over, re-read and edit. I would nod knowing that I may change a fullstop, if so much, and come back the next day. It was a bad habit I developed. Now I know write it, come back, put it down for a month, read it again. Like Stephen King says “Only God gets it right the first time.”