Friday, December 10, 2010

Writing!

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do.
--- William Zinsser





William Zinsser, author of the classic "On Writing Well." Coincidentally, this is exactly what I thought all writers looked like when I was growing up. This is what I thought I should look like, should I be crazy enough to want to be one. I managed to get the trash-compactor-sized typewriter by age 11, due to circumstances beyond anyone's control and that are still somewhat of a mystery. I forget what I first typed. I think it was, "The boy went to the " TO THE WHAT? THE BOY WENT TO THE WHAT? We found this sheet years later, but sadly, my dad's house then burned down, taking with it this sheet of paper, my refrigerator box packed full of Breyer horses and all their accoutrements, and the green strapless dress that I wore to my senior prom and which appears to have been made of tin foil.

It should be noted that I had the glasses from an early age. Little RS was blind as a bat. She somehow thought that thick, dark-colored frames (oh, maroon glasses of infamy! where have you gone? incinerated as well?) would be less noticeable, or maybe were cool. They were neither. Also, I stole my boyfriend's tie in 1989 and wore it. A LOT. It was a skinny tie, which was all the rage back then. Huey Lewis was to blame, if I recall correctly, and did you know that he is reputed to have the biggest cock in rock n' roll? Peter Frampton, smallest. So I have heard.

AND THUS ENDETH ENTRY OF LITTLE USE. YOU ARE WELCOME.

7 comments:

  1. R.S. - Now I know who I'm talking to! I had you down as a tall, slim brunette with high cheek bones and full lips. Oh well, balding with glasses will do!! LOL!!

    Have a great weekend.

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  2. Noooo, David! Continue to think of me the other way! Please!

    LOL! You have a great weekend too.

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  3. Let us not forget about Robert Plant, who had someone on his payroll, who's actual job was to blow dry his... so it could be sqeezed into his leathers.

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  4. I wonder how much a job like that pays...

    I think you need more than just a blow dry. Talcum powder, too. Not that I know from experience or anything. *looks shifty*

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  5. My favourite piece of advice on writing comes from TS Eliot:

    "There is no method except to be very intelligent."

    ;-)

    I also had a typewriter when I was a child. I got it for my seventh birthday. The first thing I wrote on it was a story about my guinea-pig.

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  6. Well, then. Shit. Looks like I shall not be a writer!

    Guinea pigs make such wonderful pets. I completely advocate them as first pets for kids. Friendly, talkative, soft. I love them.

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