K. Marvin Bruce

I have friends who are writers.  Almost all of them have other jobs, and most of them aren’t published.  Writing, however, is what drives them.  You can tell that about a writer. Our society has condemned itself over and over again, and one of the ways in which it continues to do so is by blocking writers from publication.  Even many of those “successful” in the art will say it was a matter of luck.  They found the right person at the right time in a threadbare saga that nobody would publish these days. Meanwhile, our society makes it increasingly difficult to get published and the real writers muddle through careers that are, in reality, just jobs. I’m not talking about weekend warriors here—people who write on the spur of the moment and try to get attention for it.  Writing is living for writers.  People who have the immediate response of “I should write about that” to even the most mundane thing that can be made extraordinary with words...

I asked my friend and writing partner Elizabeth what I should write about.  It's not that I have writers' block, it's just that sometimes I don't know what aspect of writing to address.  If you're reading this you're probably a writer too.  You'll know what I mean. For a writer, nothing's more important than writing.  Few tragedies in life can't be wrestled with by using our avocation.  Still, sometimes it's hard to say much about writing.  It is.  It exists.  It is greater than the writer. Lately my job has been impinging on my writing.  I have to spend extra hours every day and all that time spent with work-related activity takes time away from what's really important (writing).  I still manage to write some every day, even if it's just fifteen minutes.  Even if it's just a blog post. I recently had a day where I could write for a couple of hours, uninterrupted.  It was an amazingly therapeutic experience!  Instead...