Real writer or just a blogger?

My husband is a writer. He first had success writing TV sitcoms and now he writes children’s books. He started writing after visiting a hypnotist to stop smoking. Apparently, whilst in a deeply relaxed state she asked what he really wanted to do, and much to his surprise he said he wanted to write. He stopped smoking and for an hour a day he disappeared up into the attic. He didn’t say why. I didn’t ask. It was only months later that he told me he had written an episode of a sitcom and had sent it off to an agent. He was teaching at a 6th form college at the time. They kindly gave him a year’s sabbatical to give writing a try and he never went back. He gave up teaching and has been a full time writer ever since.
Living with a writer is not always easy… He never talked much about the process of writing except to say after working for weeks or even months at something that he was going to tear it up and start again. For years I believed he meant it. My heart sank. But then he went back to work and a beautifully crafted script eventually appeared. In time I came to realise that he didn’t mean he’d literally start again but that it was a particular stage of the writing process. I learnt to take no notice and these days he doesn’t say it so often but perhaps that is because he also became aware of it. And then my son passed on this wonderful quote from Neil Gaiman.

‘The last novel I wrote (it was ANANSI BOYS, in case you were wondering) when I got three-quarters of the way through I called my agent. I told her how stupid I felt writing something no-one would ever want to read, how thin the characters were, how pointless the plot. I strongly suggested that I was ready to abandon this book and write something else instead, or perhaps I could abandon the book and take up a new life as a landscape gardener, bank-robber, short-order cook or marine biologist. And instead of sympathising or agreeing with me, or blasting me forward with a wave of enthusiasm—or even arguing with me—she simply said, suspiciously cheerfully, Oh, you’re at that part of the book, are you?”I was shocked. “You mean I’ve done this before?” “You don’t remember?” “Not really.”"Oh yes,” she said. “You do this every time you write a novel. But so do all my other clients.” I didn’t even get to feel unique in my despair.’

So perhaps a ‘real’ writer is one who recognises when there is more work to be done rather than just dashing something off and saying, ‘Yeh. That’ll do.’

So are you a ‘real’ writer?

When you blog do you draft and redraft or are you a ‘That’ll do’ ?

Is there a difference between bloggers and writers?

Are all bloggers writers? Are all writers bloggers? Or is a writer just someone who makes money from their writing?

I’d love to know how you feel about the writing process but now for me, ‘that’ll do.’

But you’ll want to check out my husband’s writing because he really is a writer and writes wonderful books… http://anorrissbooks.wordpress.com/

Finding Your Voice…

I just read Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. Such a good, funny and thought provoking read. You know one of those in which you sense hidden depths of meaning that you’re not sure you can quite grasp. At the end Fat Charlie (no not the Fat Lady) sings. He finds his voice. A lovely metaphor for finding himself. Andrew Norriss has found his voice too. In each new book it is a little clearer and his stories become more and more wonderful. Ctrl-Z (the undo shortcut on a computer keyboard…) is his latest. It doesn’t come out until March but you can read a sneak peak on my website http://anorrissbooks.wordpress.com/. Neil Gaiman and Andrew Norriss are both examples of fine fantasy writers whose fantasy worlds blend very nicely with real life and who subtly ponder the meaning of life.
Back to Anansi Boys – ‘By the windmills of Babyland he sat and wept’! Such a genius play on words if you get it, and if you don’t, you don’t know what you’ve missed.