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Erik Hare

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Blogs by Erik Hare

Watching
10/9/2007 5:39:24 AM

It’s Tuesday, the day when I answer my mail. The blog system here at Author’s Den doesn’t allow for comments, so this is what I do instead. I hope it’s remotely adequate.

This is one of my favorite kinds of mail:

I am in High School, and I would like to be a writer. Do you have any advice about how to make a career as a writer?

Now, in my day, we had to write with a sharpened stick we ran through the fire, and scrawl across pieces of animal skin (that’s the way it was and we liked it).

I love becoming an elder. If nothing else, I can give advice straight up the way I see it. Too many people tell kids what they think they should hear or get bogged down in details. The energy of youth deserves better from the … lack of energy that can only come from being repeatedly being beaten down by the grinding weight of life.

Don’t forget to enjoy it!

Seriously, my advice is simple: Keep your eyes open. Watch everything. Make a point of understanding everything, especially the stuff that seems utterly random or pointless. Things always happen for a reason, but that reason may be related to the motivation of people you just plain don’t understand. If you don’t “get it”, it’s probably because you have never met the people that made it so. Meet them. Get to know their story.

This is my general advice to young people, as expounded by Shajee in “Downriver”:
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?AuthorID=55121

I think it applies even more to writers. You have to understand that making a living at this craft isn’t about telling your stories. It’s about telling other people’s stories, and doing it in a way that reflects them artfully. Whether you are a reporter or grant writer, a tech writer or a blog writer, you have to be able to make sense of things quickly and deeply. If you become good at it, you might have a shot at telling your own stories, but they only resonate when people recognize themselves and their culture in them.

I’ve never taken a writing course in my life. While I’ve been drawn to writing for as long as I can say, I spent 16 years as a Research Engineer writing nothing more than reports and patent applications from time to time. I resisted the call to write because I honestly didn’t think I had anything to say. During that time, I read newspapers and books, stopping to note what I liked. I learned why some kinds of prose worked and why others didn’t through understanding the effect it had on me.

At some point, I decided to take a stab at it, on my own terms. I write in a lyrical style that attempts to bridge the gap between spoken and written English while still remaining “literate”. My feeling is that once you think you have something to say, you should do it in a way that ties together the bits and pieces of our world. Making sense of a culture has to start with making sense of the language, as far as I can tell. That only comes from years of observation.

In short, do your best to be the world, and learn how to tell its story to everyone who seems too bizzy to take it in on their own. Craft your own cosmic public service.

Now that I’ve corrupted our idealistic youth, there are a few other things I’d like to ask of my readers. First of all, please write to me and tell me what you think of my humble effort to understand the world. I love hearing from you all as wabbitoid47(at)yahoo.com.

Lastly, I was nominated by some of you (thanks Janine and Laura!) for a weblog award, that of “Best Individual Blogger”. I do not see any cash prizes attached, but I have been told it’s rather prestigious. If you could take some time to slap me a vote at the two entries listed (about a third of the way down) I would appreciate it:

http://2007.weblogawards.org/nominations/best-individual-blogger.php

Thanks!

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