….we writers must learn to enjoy the moments before we begin to Eat Honey…
The other day, I met an aspiring writer, uncommonly depressed.
She had just received a string of rejections, and was thinking of sticking to her day job, to the total exclusion of writing. Not so uncommon.
For most writers, publication is part of being validated, of being told how good they are. And since a writer does not write in vacuum, but for an audience, it makes sense that they should write to be published.
While talking to my friend, out of nowhere, the image of Winnie the Pooh came to me. Yes, you read that right. Winnie the Pooh.
Winnie the Pooh saying something about honey, and eating it. I was so keen on figuring out what exactly Pooh had said that I immediately googled it when I came back home.
Here it is:
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best — ” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.
So, I called up my friend, and told her all about it. How Publishing a Book was good, but what was even better was the time before that happened. Enjoy your time while writing, I said to her, and enjoy your time before publication.
Like Winnie the Pooh, we writers must learn to enjoy the moments before we begin to Eat Honey. We must wait to be found, not only by publishers but also our own Muse, because as the wise Pooh bear says:
Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get, they’re things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.
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I have mixed feelings about that. I believe that a writer needs to be actively looking for publishers and agents, not waiting to be found because publishers have so much stuff they have to look through that they cannot possibly be just looking around.
’tis my opinion, please don’t flame me.
Ceylan
[Reply]
By Ceylan on 09.08.09 7:21 am | Permalink
Nowhere in my post did I say writers should stop looking for publishers and agents.
All I said was they should enjoy the process of writing, and appreciate the stages before reaching publication.
And why do you think you would be flamed, Ceylan?
[Reply]
By Damyanti on 09.08.09 11:15 am | Permalink
I think some of the best advice I ever read was that . . . a writer should have a project ready to go, a project in revision mode, and a project on the ‘to-do’ list.
I love this crazy journey of writing. I love to get lost in the words, typing away until my back aches, my eyes are blurry, and my fingers can barely move at all. I love the feeling of ‘satisfaction’, of almost exhaustion, after immersing myself in the writing.
Great post . . . and you can’t go wrong with Winnie the Pooh. By the way . . . there’s a great research paper called ‘Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood’. If you goole the title, you’ll find many copies of the very interesting article. Great read.
S
[Reply]
By Scott on 09.08.09 3:13 pm | Permalink
I love this post, D. And it is well said. We NEED to enjoy the writing. I find joy in all the aspects. If I didn’t, I don’t know that I would do it. I can’t image the writers who do it only to be published.
And yes, I want to get published.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 09.09.09 12:16 pm | Permalink
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