Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The true function of any teacher is to prepare his students to face the
future and strike out on their own.
To that end, and whether he plans it so or not, he ponders said students
as much as they ponder him.
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hand of fate; somehow mold and control the forces that shape destiny.
These things cant be. The writer realizes it.
But that only sharpens his desire and whets his craving; for his need to
reach out strikes deeper than the wildest dreams of other men.
And the writer can reach out, through the agency of his own
imagination.
He does so.
Then, because the things he finds in the larger world that he creates so
fascinate him, he yearns to pass them on to others.
He does that too, through the medium of the written word.
Do I make this plain? The writers inner need is dual.
On the one hand, hes driven by his desire to live life in a larger world.
On the other, he feels a compulsion to share that world . . . to display it
for others to admire.
Both these drives must coexist inside you, nagging and harassing, if
youre to be a writer.
I stress this because its so seldom understood. Too often, the would-be
writer thinks that what he wants is fame or money or independence. He
equates a taste for reading or a knack with words for talent.
Now none of these beliefs are wholly false. But neither are they wholly
true. They evade the issue, for convenience sake or lack of insight or
unwillingness to accept the fact of difference, as the case may be.
Actually, what a writer seeks is a way of life, and that way constitutes
its own reward. The criterion is never art for arts sake . . . always, it is art
for selfs sake. You write because you like toneed to, have towrite;
there is no other valid reason.
Once let a writer recognize this; once let him understand his own
dynamics, and uncertainty and self-doubt fade. You learn to face the fact
that if your inner need is great enough, youll write. If other needs surpass
itif your drives to adventure or security or love or recognition or family
duties strike deeperthen you can turn away with no regrets. You wont
have to kid yourself about fame or money or independencethose are
bonuses for special skill and talent; fringe benefits. Convenient and
desirable though they may be, on a basic level theyre only status symbols;
societys stamp of approval to mark your success in your chosen field.
More important by far is your own self-satisfaction. Build larger worlds
of your private choosing; find the right readers to admire them, and youll
live content despite an income that would never rouse jealousy in a used-
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car salesman. Deny yourself your Worlds of If, your readers, and you can
be miserable even with a Rolls-Royce and a Bel Air estate.
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What is a story?
A story is so many things
Its experience translated into literary process.
Its words strung onto paper.
Its a succession of motivations and reactions.
Its a chain of scenes and sequels.
Its a double-barreled attack upon your readers.
Its movement through the eternal now, from past to future.
Its people given life on paper.
Its the triumph of ego over fear of failure.
Its merchandise that goes hunting for a buyer.
Its new life, shared with readers by a writer.
A story is all these things and more. So much, much more . . .
For a story, in the last analysis, is you, transferred to print and paper.
You: unique and individual. You, writer, who through your talent range a
larger world than others, and thus give life new meaning to all who choose
to read.
You: writer.
Attain that status, and you win fulfillment enough for any man!