“There is only one type of story in the world. Your story. If you write your story it could possibly sell…all good stories are the one kind of story, the story written by an individual man from his individual truth.” Ray Bradbury encourages us all to write our story, as no one else can. No one else sees how we see, has the same perceptions, experiences, or truth. We can study how other writers write, how other artists make time, prepare, edit, and deal with their inner critic and creative blocks. But if we’re going to write or paint or play music or draw, we have to do it, no one else.
Which genre do you choose? “No field, fully loved, can be bad for a writer. Only types of self-conscious writing in a field can do great harm.” He mentions in his book, Zen in the Art of Writing, that we must write from the heart. Once we get hold of an idea, writing fast blasts past the inner critic, the one who attempts to direct what words we put on the page. So, as long as we write full-out, create with love, then what we do isn’t bad.
He continues, “The time will come when your character will write your stories for you, when your emotions, free of literary cant and commercial bias, will blast the page and tell the truth.” This comes with practice, with consistency, with knowing ourselves as writers and artists. The more we do, the more we become familiar with what works, what helps, and what gets in the way. And if we get stuck? If the wall between ourselves and our Muse grows too tall to scale? We devise a way around, over, or under because we know ourselves, our Muse, and our art. That isn’t to say that nothing will be new. I find that every time I pick up my pen, there is something new that comes from it. Just because something is familiar, because we become comfortable with it, doesn’t mean that it can’t propose obstacles or that it becomes stale. “It is a wise writer who knows his subconscious.”
“If you’re not happy with the way your writing has gone, you might give my method a try. If you do, I think you might easily find a new definition for Work. And the word is LOVE.”
This concludes my comments on Ray Bradbury’s book, Art in the Zen of Writing. What do we do now? We write our story, as only we can. We write from the heart, because to do less is to deny our truth. We write, a lot, because the more we do, the more we know every part of ourselves. We listen to the Muse, we participate in creativity because it is the ‘work’ required of us, but done with ‘love’, and even if it’s hard, it’s right.
I have found in my own practice, that my truth does indeed come when I write fast, then it’s from the heart, and it’s my story. To see what I’ve done, you can read stories and parts of my novels on my website: www.myjoyenterprises.com
How do you create, fast and from the heart? Have you been bold enough to tell your own story?
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