by Jen Nipps

Created on: August 06, 2008

Life isn't always pretty. It rarely fits into the straight lines that writing requires. But you live it and experience it anyway. Largely because you don't have a choice. And if you're lucky, you can find some good material to write about in the process of living.

It seems as though many famous writers in history were alcoholics, drug addicts, or mentally ill. Were they writers because of their problems or in spite of them?

To hear Stephen King tell it, they were writers in spite of their problems. He would know. He lived through a lot of it himself. In his book ON WRITING, he even goes so far as to say that he wrote a book he doesn't remember writing because of alcoholism.

What would it be like not to remember writing something that you wrote? It would be surreal. Chances are, you'd likely think you were reading someone else's work. And then you'd turn back to the front cover to see again who the author is. And there is your name, staring right back at you.

Although many writers were or are addicts of one sort or another, that doesn't mean all writers are. Or were. Or will be.

Even so, sometimes moods and emotions can get in the way of what you want to say. Sometimes melancholy stifles the muse. And sometimes you are so wide open, you have no idea where you want to start. So you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, whatever the case may be and begin.

Does it really matter what you say? Does it really matter if it's "good" or not? No one ever has to see it except for you. And even then you can delete it or throw it away.

But why would you do that? Because then you wouldn't be able to refer back to it. No matter how bad something may appear to be, there is usually something salvageable in it. Maybe there's a good scene you can use in your story.

Or maybe it's just a single word or sentence that is worth keeping. Maybe not even that much. Perhaps it's just a concept or idea that you see by reading between the lines.

Where would you be if you had thrown it away? Things that appear to be rubbish usually have at least one diamond in amongst the coal.

Even if it's all coal, it's good for burning and for warmth. You never know when your electricity will go out and you'll need something to feed a fire.

But forget about the electricity going out. That might not ever happen again (though it recent years with ice storms in Oklahoma, it's a very real possibility). But people still go camping. And when you go camping, you need a campfire. And that piece of paper with all that

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