Oh. You Want To Be A Writer?

Seems like I’ve met a bazillion people who want to be writers. It’s just that very few of them want to, you know, write.

I’m excited whenever I meet someone who’s started taking small steps towards actually doing the thing. Actions arouse my interest.

You want to write? Write. That’s really it.

“But how do you figure out what to write about?”

That’s the easy part once you build the habit. Make it easier on yourself. There are ten billion topics. Pick one. Put pen or pencil to paper or start clicking the keys.

You need something to get you started? Still? Okay. Fine. BUT … this is only if you want to plunge headlong and not just stick a dainty toe in the waters.

From Roy H. Williams’ Wizard Academy Press description for People Stories: Inside the Outside:

It’s 5:00AM and I’m sitting at the bar of an all-night café on the wrong side of town eating a three-dollar breakfast, listening to the smelly, funny stories of downtrodden people who know each other well. Their sparkling banter gives me a glimpse into problems I’ll never touch, victories I’ll never celebrate, a life I’ll never have. These are they who will never have internet access, a credit card or cable TV.

But they seem happy.

I’ve come here to learn what it means to be an outsider in America.

People tell me they want to write. I respond, “You can’t find a pencil?” In truth, few want to write. Most want only to have written. People tell me they want to travel, have adventures, meet interesting people and learn about different cultures. They want to expand their world. I’m betting you can guess my answer to that one… “If you will expand your world, you must crawl on your hands and knees, get on your belly and squirm under the fence that surrounds your insulated life.”

For most people, travel means being pampered by accommodating servants in exotic places. But interesting people, strange cultures and high adventure don’t await you on the other side of the world. They await you on the other side of town. Are you willing to get on your belly and crawl under that fence? Will you invest an hour to enlarge your world? If you will actually do it, not just think about it, but really do it, and write to me about it, I will send you a special gift of initiation. These are the rules:

1. You must arrive and be seated in a 24-hour eating establishment between 1:30AM and 5:30AM in a part of town where you rarely go. Or perhaps a truckstop beyond town’s edge. The further outside your comfort zone, the better.
2. If a man, you must go alone. If a woman and concerned for your safety, you can take one other person with you. But make sure your friend understands the goal isn’t to chat with each other, but to glimpse a whole other world that exists side-by-side with the one you know.
3. While you’re eating and listening and absorbing this strange new reality, think of what these people need most and how you might help them get it. While you’re at it, you might also think a little about what they have that you don’t. There is a rich sense of community among the outcast.
4. Write the details of your excursion within 24 hours of your meal and email them.

There you go. There’s your homework. Or, awaywork in this case. Are you up for the challenge? Send it to me when you’re done. I can’t wait to read what you’ve written.