Quote of TODAY!

I have been watching quite a few YouTube videos recently (perhaps I will be making a comeback myself …) and I have seen quite a few advertisements for the various “Masterclasses” being offered. The one that caught my attention today was a “writing” “Masterclass” from / with Joyce Carol Oates in which she says –

“THE GREAT ENEMY OF WRITING IS NOT YOUR OWN LACK OF TALENT … IT’S BEING INTERRUPTED BY OTHER PEOPLE.”

As a “writer,” I could not agree more with anything than I do with that statement. The “interruptions” from other people, especially when they come while you are at home trying to write (if you are like me, that is) and someone is being particularly loud by playing loud television or music or banging around or leafblowing, &c. It is not so much the PHYSICAL INTERACTION WITH OTHER PEOPLE that brings about what I call “interruption” but the barrage of noise that comes FROM other people when you are trying to get an idea out of your head and onto the page either typed or written. I suppose one could also say these “interruptions” also come in the form of the words of others playing again and again and again in one’s mind.

I have talked about this issue to some extent in previous posts; that is, that most problems come from the interactions we have with others (and, conversely, we might not be able to KNOW humor without such interactions), but I think it is an important thing to remember when one IS a writer in any capacity. It is especially important when one is choosing “housing;” something about which I WILL discuss at length at another time.

I just wanted to put that down here because I really believe that statement is completely true – and there are few statements with which I TOTALLY agree. However you can manage to do it, if you are a writer, please try to find a time and a space in which such interruptions cannot occur – both inside and outside of your own mind. And with that said, I hope you are all having a happy and healthy day and you all have a wonderful last weekend before Christmas! Keep safe out there!!

❤ Always, Beth