I love writing. The feeling of putting pen to a blank paper just fills me with happiness, because I know of the limitless possibilities I can create. With only a $3.99 pen and a $5.00 notebook. I mean, I could transport myself to an Amazon rainforest, or take myself to the North Pole, or exist in the 1500's or jump into the future to December 31st 2012. (You may ask why this date is important. Well, I just want to see and record the looks on people's faces at 12 in the night when they realize the world has not ended after all. Which will of course reiterate my point that the Mayan calender only ends then because whoever was doing the Calender simply fell asleep.)
Anyway, the point is that I love writing. However, sometimes despite this fact, I get scared to write. I mean, yes, the abilities of a writer transcend place and time due to the literary powers we wield, but with all power comes a serious sense of responsibility.
I believe it was Edna O'Brien that compared writing to carrying a foetus. I agree wholeheartedly with that comparison. Sometimes as my pen stands poised over that blank sheet of paper, the pen starts quivering as though it was scared of the responsibility it holds to the literary world. I must not just write anything. It must be brilliant. It must be true. There must be a sense of verisimilitude. Therefore it must be well-researched. Therefore I must employ google. And wikipedia. But using wikipedia is not considered research. Thus, I must employ the search engines at school in the library under the pretext of doing schoolwork.
And do you know what often happens? I get so bogged down with trying to get the story right that the time I should be spending writing the story is spent making sure the story is even plausible.
When I should just write. And maybe worry about this "research" bullshit later. Hmmm, now there's a thought.
