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Friday, 29 January 2016

Are You Really a Writer?


A title like that was hard to resist. It popped up on Pintrest - a recent on-line discovery for me with lots of things for creative people to explore. The link led to the poem So You Want to be a Writer by Charles Bukowski an American poet who died in 1994.

The poem suggests that unless the words burst out of you, unless you never sit at the keyboard puzzling about what to write next or ponder how to turn your idea into poetry or prose, you really should be doing something else.

Bukowski suggests that being a writer means being chosen and for the chosen, writing is effortless. If it isn't, the poem maintains, you're not a writer at all.

My heart tells me he was so wrong. My inner critic isn't too sure.

What do you think?

Do leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Heather Shaw

1 comment:

  1. I hope he's wrong...

    What about all those clichés about writing being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration?

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