Posted on November 21, 2012
by billyraychitwood1
Each of us wannabe would-be writers walk into our ‘room of reflection’ with a special DNA and skill set. We walk into our ‘room’ with life experiences that have similarity to other lives, but there is a uniqueness in each of us, different appetites and desires, different cultures, large and small alteration patterns in our family environments.
Some of us bring into the ‘room’ a life generally filled with joy and happiness, wholesome family connections and memories. Some of us bring despair, loneliness, sadness, and tragedies. Some of us bring keen minds with which to pen our thoughts and enlighten the readers of the world. Some of us want so much to convey our long buried messages of where we’ve been and how we’ve survived but feel inferior to the task. Some of us struggle to write the words that would set us free from the demons of our pasts. Some have the mental acuity with which to paint a word portrait of stunning quality. Some struggle and
produce masterpieces of their own. Some struggle and leave the ‘room.’ There are millions of us wannabe would-be writers in the world. Some of us do leave the ‘room,’ finding after all that writing is not our true passion.
Those of us bitten by the writing bug know the long hours of staring at a blank page. We also know the overwhelming feeling of pride when we have written something so emotionally satisfying our own tears splash on the laptop keys. It is in this ‘room’ that we find out so much about ourselves, our strengths, our weaknesses. It is here that we come to understand those parts of
us we struggled to know for so very long. It is here in this privacy that we become who it is we truly wish to be...not necessarily the author of Book of the Month clubs, not necessarily the author that publishers rush to sign, not necessarily the exact masterpiece we had wanted that book to become.
In ’the writer’s room’ we become more than we ever imagined we could be. We can create a story with true elements from our own lives. We can place in the story those characters that we have known, respected, or reviled. These characters can tell the story of our lives with all of the emotions assembled therein. We can be old, young, man, woman, child, and these characters, with our lines and between our lines, tell the world about that special and unique DNA we brought into the room.
Will our time spent in ’the writer’s room’ make us rich and famous? Could happen, of course. If we are serious about our craft, however, should that be the real intent when we enter that room? That is for each of us to decide. For me, whatever the story I’m writing, there are pieces of me strewn throughout the pages. For me, it is in this room where I have grown the most, have discovered more about myself than all that living gave up to me. You see, I was too busy being that actor on the stage of life to really know my true self. It took this ‘room,’ these private moments to really find me. It took this room, all the writing errata, to become confident with the fact that, yes, I can honestly pen words and phrases that can compete with anyone. Do I realize that Shakespeare and Hemingway live not within me? Of course, but, then, were that the case, what would have been my discovery?
Go to ‘the writer’s room’ and create a world where you discover yourself. Make your mistakes, grow and become the best that you can be. If fame is meant to be, so it shall come to pass. If self-awareness and truth are your rewards in that ‘room,’ be joyous in that recognition.
Robert Browning, one of the great Victorian poets of his day, made claim that 'striving was a noble thing’ — if one digs a ditch, it should be the best ditch that one can dig. So it should be with writing.
If your proclivity is writing, go to ‘the writer’s room’ and find your true being.