I can thank Bob Butler for agonizing me into an almost fearful submission that I just. could. not. write. Only to realize, after months of mediation, that I really didn't care if I could write and started writing again anyway.
His class was painful. I literally had physical pain from his harsh words thrust upon each and every one of us - his pawns, his minions, his followers, his toys. But, at the end of the day, as I embarked on my very first novel, his words whispered into my ear throughout the entire process. The man who almost scarred me away from writing entirely really taught me how to do it. He made me focus on the things that matter.
1) He told us that yearning is of the utmost importance. Without it, your character has nothing.
2) He taught me that I yearn to write. And that yearning, regardless of anything else, is more important than anything else. Without it, the writer has nothing.
Who knows what this work will come to. Hopefully something. But Bob Butler, a man who has won a Pulitzer Prize for his astounding and outstanding abilities with language, claims to have written one million words before ever getting published.
I think his hope was that we, as his students, could learn from him and hopefully jump ahead on the word count. What I see is a man who never cared if he was published or not. Sure, would be great. But really, it's about the journey. It's about the writing. It's about the passion.
Those who know him and know his technique will understand these little postcards strewn all over my rather small dining room table. I, against good order, but a discovery I have happily made along the way, took this step after writing nearly seventy thousand words. But his strategy is simply... Genius.
I can look at my words, my vision, my heart, my story, like a puzzle. Laid out before me, waiting to be put together for the very first time. I thought the editing was going to be tedious. Truthfully, it is freeing.
So thank you Bob for scaring me. Thank you for scarring me. Thank you for molding me. Thank you for teaching me.
[Also, special thanks to Meg, Molly, and Thom especially for the time spent musing over my words.]
[Also, special thanks to Meg, Molly, and Thom especially for the time spent musing over my words.]
2 comments:
Do you often get crazy anonymous comments? Well, I really enjoyed this post. I have one professor like that too- it is amazing how much influence they exert, possibly without ever knowing it...
i do sometimes get the crazy anonymous posts. some are spam, but this one was pretty interesting in its own right, so i kept it. i sent this blog to bob, so now he knows.
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