Rob's Surf Report

It’s a thirsty man who writes for any reason. [Mama #2]

In your favorite pastime / hobby, do you lean toward a certain style or type of work?

 

Today’s question comes from Mama @ Reinvention of Mama, asking:

 

What’s your favorite type of writing?  Blogging? Novels?

Wanna know why I’m answering general questions from specific bloggers? Check out my explanation of the Liebster hat trick.

 

Home improvement...
That’s not me – I’m not crazy enough to remove anything attached to the house. Yet. (Photo credit: rstrohmh)

I like to write, that much is clear to anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis; in fact, sometimes I think I may have written too lengthy on one post or another, but it’s what I like to do. For what it’s worth, I also like to write narrative prose, although that’s a little bit harder to do to the satisfaction of the readers, because in a story one must line up the ducks just so. it doesn’t matter whether they face east or west, but they must make a neat(ish) row.

 

So it’s not that I lean toward either blogging or story-writing – for me, this is more of a question about why I like writing so darn much; because I will write anything, if I have something to write. My favorite writing involves discovery during the process. I like it when I go to write something, and then I come away having written some thing or things that I never thought about going into the piece, but that I discovered along the way. When I would write theses for my college English classes I would write some great stuff, and it seemed even to me as though it was pulled out of thin air, but completely supported but the map of connections I was drawing through my supporting points. Ultimately satisfying, this type of discovery keeps me wanting to write.

 

Finding more time to write is something I wanted to do last week, in addition to organizing the paperwork in my office and figuring out whether it’s my ledger or the banks records that are screwy [Editor’s note: it turned out that it was my ledger; I added something I was supposed to subtract. Oops!] The new house is coming together, albeit less instantly than I’d like. I wanted to get shelves up in the office, which I did. I’m a step closer to organization. I did not get more time to write. Part of it are the demands at work; I had a 58-hour week last week, including Saturday. We had the in-laws over yesterday, which included some last-minute preparation of the house (largely undertaken by Mme Ross) after the Sunday ritual: caramel rolls and coffee. I had to clear and salt the walks after an overnight blizzard left half the walk at our corner house under a foot of dry, granulated powder.

 

I don’t lament not finding more time to write, I only thirst for my next discovery. Does that make sense?

 

What do you think? What do you do, and how do you prefer to do it? Let us know in the comments.

 

This post was prompted in part by today’s Daily Post prompt.

 

104 other responses have posted so far:

 

 

 

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33 comments

  1. Yes it does make sense…to connect the dots as you go while writing is a truly rewarding experience. I feel the same when take photographs…it’s like connecting the dots with pictures…

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  3. Interesting approach and thoughts about how and why you like to write – I myself have yet to consider this, at my present crossroads in time.

    I used to write – way back when, in the hey day of school (apart from assignments) and when taking my Creative Writing Classes and generally – because I had stories to tell – something to say. Ideas to share.

    Now, I’m not so sure why – before the burning passion was the drive – and words whether spoken or written were my tools.

    My blog writings seem to be a testing space where I stretch and play and learn new techniques through trial and error. But apart from that – more personal writing – like NaNo or such – I don’t know yet.

    The only thing I can safely say is this: I’m really getting back into the swing of writing again – I believe (no I’m not being egotistical) that it is my *calling* – I just don’t know how or why or how it will all fall into place. And I’m having fun with the blog.

    Years ago I wrote from very challenging dark places and pain.

    Reply

  8. When I read the question the first thought that ran through my mind was ‘writing is my favorite kind of writing.’

    Reply

    • You know you’re a writer when . . .

      right?

      I agree, and I suppose some might lean toward pointing out what they find easiest because that’s what we tend to write most, and therefore it’s easy to assume that that’s our favorite kind of writing, but I had some introspective time to realize that I like it all, because it’s not my writing I’m jonesing for, it’s still my own learning experience —

      I’m just a greedy bastard.

      Reply

      • I wouldn’t call it greedy. I think it’s good to go the writer’s gamut. Let’s take Stephen King: he’s written novels, short stories and reviews / recommendations for other authors. I’m not going to doubt he can write flash fiction. In fact, looking around Amazon for a movie to watch I came across one that was a predecessor, that’s what I called it anyway – I don’t know what Mr. King had in mind – to Maximum Overdrive titled Trucks. Trucks was a short story originally, the other was the novel. It gave me a lot to think about – opened the possibilities door. Could I take an already published story and expand on it? I think that’s a better idea than un-publishing something. Am I greedy? Maybe, but I think everyone has a first book – their first try. Anything I write is who I am, they tell my writing story.

        With books, so far I’ve managed 77 pages and 159. My third project I could’ve entered in NaNoWriMo – when it began I’d more than half the word count – but I don’t know if I trust competitions anyway. I’d like to keep going with it and see how it turns out. I’m down with learning experience most definitely.

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        • And that’s what I mean about greedy; of course I’m being facetious but I really do write for me because what I’m after is the ephemeral epiphany, that aforementioned discovery that I swear becomes a little endorphin rush – I just can’t get enough!

          I wonder about the Maximum Overdrive novel you mentioned – that must be a novelization to the movie, because in the 90’s I had learned that Trucks was the basis for that movie, and so I thought it was apt of its own accord. A few of King’s short stories made great movies, like Apt Pupil. Then there’s The Lawnmower Man. sigh.

          Reply

          • I never knew, or never paid attention to the fact Apt Pupil was Stephen King’s. I had that movie on tape! It’s not one I’d watch often.

            In checking out Maximum Overdrive – thanks for the morning quest – this is what I found:

            “Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 American action-disaster-horror-science fiction film written and directed by novelist Stephen King. The film starred Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington and Yeardley Smith. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King’s short story, Trucks, which was included in King’s first collection of short stories, Night Shift.”

            So, it’s not a novel but based on a short story ‘Trucks’ part of a collection of short stories, and he wrote the screenplay… ok, I’m good.

            Many of King’s works give me that Poe feeling. I have to be selective with what I read or view. I saw ‘Bag Of Bones’ – that was good.

            Novella and short story… 30,000 – 60,000 vs 3500 – 30,000… hmmmmmmm

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              • Well, the new project right now qualifies as a novella but it’s not done – this could be exciting. My first book may turn out to be a short story… I’ll have to do a word count. My second one is poetry, and what I’d coined as short-stories might be no more than essays… This’ll all give me something else to do in that precious couple of hours my grandson sleeps. Fun!

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                • Tell if your shorts are fiction in under 3k words they qualify as flash fiction, depending on who’s counting. Anything under 300 is technically micro fiction. I did quite a bit of that last year, trying to get back to it, actually.

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                  • I realized as I was putting my grandson down for his nap that those shorter bits would be flash fiction, but I didn’t know the term micro fiction – I like it – and I have some of those too. I got into the flash fiction challenges for expanding my potential horizons – here’s a word – write something. I enjoyed Delusional after I got over the initial jitters although for some I had an unfair advantage having worked in the medical profession 10 years of my life. I’d met plenty of interesting folk… some were patients. This new one, Boys and Their Toys is a little more of a challenge but I like having to think in a different direction.

                    I’d done a 20 questions challenge on another author’s site and he described my writing as literary fiction, memoir and poetry. I was overwhelmed and humbled. I have no lofty opinion of my writing – I don’t assume I’ve managed a poem just because I’ve rearranged words into short groups across and one long string down. That could be construed as either a math equation or canted architecture.
                    My roots are humble and I was being practical: I began writing because I found myself somewhere I never wanted to be again, I wanted to take the right steps as long as I’m stuck “where I’m meant to be” so I’m encouraged, and keep my sanity. Life goes on without express permission of direction from time to time.

                    Reply

                    • Sounds like inspired writing to me – “going on without express permission of direction from time to time.” Art imitating life?

                      You’ve been talking about the M3 blog’s Flash in the Pan, right? I just checked in after a little over two months of being checked out with this whole buying a house deal and the holidays . . . I’d missed out on finishing several flashes I had in progress, unfortunately, but I saw this new list and noticed the word “surfboard”. I feel like I’m getting to the point where I can start cracking at them again, so I’m psyching myself up for it. 🙂

                      And I got the term micro fiction off of Wikipedia; you know how when you attempt to define anything by way of Google you almost expect Wikipedia to be somewhere near the top – but yeah, I thought it sounded cool.

                    • ‘Art imitating life’ – all colors primary and secondary collided into a tsunami. Too dumb to run for cover, standing there gaping, I’m soaked and dripping . It doesn’t wash out.

                      Good ol’ Wikipedia… I’ve also titled the micros spark fiction. I like the term hot flashes too.

                      With Boys and Their Toys you’ve certainly got the edge. I’ll see you at Red’s!

    • Well, the way I read the prompt (as in interpretation) was more of a distinction between writing fiction vs. nonfiction, assuming that blogging meant writing something that wasn’t necessarily narrative in structure. If I started picking apart prompts/questions like that, I’d probably never get anything done!

      Reply

  11. I enjoy writing, but sometimes run out of ideas – that is why I like a daily prompt. I do not really intend to do it every day, but s***t happens so they say.

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    • I think it’s because you write so much that your mind is trained to come up with something to say – if you think about it, we become more highly evolved as we continue to write because we become more well-equipped to communicate. 😉

      Reply

  16. I ran across one of those little meme things that knocked my socks off the other day, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” A quick google search shows this as a quote by Flannery O’Connor. You wrote about a sense of discovery, I whole heartedly understand and appreciate that. I have a journal for that reason. I also have that journal hidden away and booby trapped. Thank you so much for the reply.

    Reply

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