A Writer Writes. Always.
I’ve never seen Throw Momma From The Train, but it’s a 1987 movie directed by Danny Devito starring Billy Crystal. Crystal plays Larry Donner, a creative writing professor struggling with writer’s block. I don’t know the context, (I’ll eventually watch it, OK?) but Donner somewhere in the film utters the phrase “a writer writes, always,” which was apparently so profound a quote it’s led at least a few people to dissect its meaning.
It stuck with me too, but mostly because the person who introduced it to me was a creative director, and I had no idea what the fuck he meant. Was he calling me lazy because the shit I’d written wasn’t good and I’d have to write more? Was he trying to inspire me with a highbrow platitude I was too plebeian to get? I still don’t know. But I liked it. It’s such a dumb, obvious saying, and I identify with dumb, obvious things.
Even during the years I was in too much pain to write, 'a writer writes, always' ran through my mind. But by that time, it morphed into an epitaph for my career. I wasn’t a writer anymore, because a writer writes always, and I was writing never. What started as an innocuous, fluffy mantra became a taunt to me.
Yeah, I know. Boohoo. Super sad.
But besides how little anyone should care about the plight of my writing career, self-flagellating my brain with quotes from movies I've never seen is also pretty silly. And apparently I never learn, because I’m still thinking about that flagellating quote. And once again it’s morphed its meaning.
When I look back on who I was when I couldn’t write, when the idea of sitting in front of a keyboard filled me with profound dread, I still see myself as a writer. Not because I want to gloss over a long-term crisis in my life and pretend everything was groovy, but because a good writer is someone that seeks out hidden connections in the world whether he's near his notebook or not. And while I was too sick to hold a pen to paper, I never stopped trying to find hidden truths around me.
When I see that dumb, obvious quote now, I don’t see it as a taunt. I see it as a reminder of what a writer is.
Yes, a writer needs to write, and every day if they can. The only way you can convince people that you’re a writer (especially if you’re looking to get paid) is to type a bunch of shit. That’s why I’m writing these words right now. No one owes me anything. I need to write as often as I can and hope it’s enough to find a cheque in the mail one day.
But I’ll always be a writer even if this is the last paragraph I ever write, because when I see "a writer writes, always," I see a thinker thinks, always. Because that’s all a writer really is-- a thinker. And when you can’t write, you think about the stuff you want to write about. I did that for a long time. Now it's time to try writing for a bit.
Let’s see if I’m back next week. I’ll have to think about it.
It stuck with me too, but mostly because the person who introduced it to me was a creative director, and I had no idea what the fuck he meant. Was he calling me lazy because the shit I’d written wasn’t good and I’d have to write more? Was he trying to inspire me with a highbrow platitude I was too plebeian to get? I still don’t know. But I liked it. It’s such a dumb, obvious saying, and I identify with dumb, obvious things.
Even during the years I was in too much pain to write, 'a writer writes, always' ran through my mind. But by that time, it morphed into an epitaph for my career. I wasn’t a writer anymore, because a writer writes always, and I was writing never. What started as an innocuous, fluffy mantra became a taunt to me.
Yeah, I know. Boohoo. Super sad.
But besides how little anyone should care about the plight of my writing career, self-flagellating my brain with quotes from movies I've never seen is also pretty silly. And apparently I never learn, because I’m still thinking about that flagellating quote. And once again it’s morphed its meaning.
When I look back on who I was when I couldn’t write, when the idea of sitting in front of a keyboard filled me with profound dread, I still see myself as a writer. Not because I want to gloss over a long-term crisis in my life and pretend everything was groovy, but because a good writer is someone that seeks out hidden connections in the world whether he's near his notebook or not. And while I was too sick to hold a pen to paper, I never stopped trying to find hidden truths around me.
When I see that dumb, obvious quote now, I don’t see it as a taunt. I see it as a reminder of what a writer is.
Yes, a writer needs to write, and every day if they can. The only way you can convince people that you’re a writer (especially if you’re looking to get paid) is to type a bunch of shit. That’s why I’m writing these words right now. No one owes me anything. I need to write as often as I can and hope it’s enough to find a cheque in the mail one day.
But I’ll always be a writer even if this is the last paragraph I ever write, because when I see "a writer writes, always," I see a thinker thinks, always. Because that’s all a writer really is-- a thinker. And when you can’t write, you think about the stuff you want to write about. I did that for a long time. Now it's time to try writing for a bit.
Let’s see if I’m back next week. I’ll have to think about it.
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