Until I read a recent blog post by Jeannie Ruesch on Writer
Unboxed, I’d forgotten that not only reading but writing is magic, too. In
her post, Ms. Ruesch quotes from Stephen King’s On Writing: “Writing is magic, as much the water of life
as any other creative art.”
That quote sparked this post. Writing is magic. Characters pop into our heads, some fully formed, others only
give us sneak peeks until we write their story. Sometimes they hint at a major road
block to any type of relationship. Others are blatant about it. Digging into
their pasts, making them open up can be quite a challenge. Non-writers may
question this. You’re the writer. You made up those characters. Why don’t you
know what they’re thinking? As many writers have discovered, characters don’t
always behave the way we expect them to. They take on a life of their own and force us to listen to them. Secondary
characters demand their own story. Villains insist they have good reasons for
what they do. We grouse about that when it doesn't fit into our plans because we forget it’s magic.
While writing, we can enjoy a sunny Caribbean beach while it’s
twenty below outside or a mountain retreat when everyone around us suffers
through ninety degrees with ninety-nine percent humidity. The best time of year
and location for our stories seem to flow from the story itself. While we are
writing, we shut out the here-and-now and are transported to that place and
time. That’s magic.
The spark that leads to a story can hit us in the middle of
the night, while driving, or doing laundry. A first scene. An opening sentence.
They seem to come out of nowhere. We have no idea why. In the middle of writing
the current book, especially when we’re stalled, a strange character will pop
up, saying I’m more fun, write my story. I used to call that my Muse talking to
me. Now I think it’s magic.
Writing is a job. Like most jobs, we start out all
bright-eyed, full of enthusiasm. After a while, the job can become onerous. The
crunch of deadlines. Hours spent in promotion when we’d rather be writing. Great
ideas fizzle out. Stress from outside sources undermines our creativity. Throw
in other roadblocks and we forget what we knew in the beginning. Writing really
is magic.
I’m too much a wuss to read Stephen King’s fiction, but On Writing is fabulous, a must-have for
any writer, and an interesting read for non-writers. In her post, Ms. Ruesch
recites other lessons she should have learned from that book. Like her, I’d
forgotten them. I’m especially glad she reminded me about the magic.
Now if I could remember which unopened box that book is in, I would reread it.
