Alright, My Peeps…
…I’m Sure You’ve Noticed A Bit Of A Change AND Change-Back In Regard To My Recent Bloggin’ings.
There, For A Little Bit, I Was Putting Much Much More Of MYSELF Into That Which I’d Written.
Then…
…Rather Suddenly…
…I Pulled Myself Back.
I Had Quickly Felt I Was Putting Too Much Of Me-Me Out There To Y’all.
I Know Putting One’s Self Out There Is Generally Considered Part Of The Game Which We Call “Writing”…
…And I Just Wasn’t Sure Where I Was Going With It All.
I’m Still Not Totally Totally Sure.
We Talked About My Sleep (or lack there-of).
We Talked About My Mental State AND The Personal Difficulties Surrounding Said Mental State.
We Talked About A Lot.
Hell…
…I Talk To Y’all More Than I Talk To My Shrink.
Odd As It May Sound…
…I Was A Lot More Comfortable Telling Y’all What Was Up.
🙂
Alright…
…So What’s This Quote Bid-nass I Eluded To In My Headline?
It’s Actually One Of My Faves…
…And I Felt It’s Something I Should Share With Y’all.
*** *** ***
“THE ARTIST IS NOTHING WITHOUT THE GIFT, BUT THE GIFT IS NOTHING WOTHOUT WORK.“
—ÉMILE ZOLA
*** *** ***
Honestly…
…I Know For A Fact He’s Pretty Much Right.
You Can Be The Best At What You Do…
…But Without Constantly Working At It….
…You’ll Always Have That Looming Cloud Of “Waning-Skills” On Your Horizon.
With The Bulk Of Things In Life…
…One Must Keep At It.
At Least…
…You Do If You Want To Improve And Make Whatever It Is Better And Better.
That’s A Fairly Established Fact, My Peeps.
You Know It.
I Know It.
We Know It.
Do I Have A Gift?!
No.
Not Really.
If I Do Have A Gift, It’s The Gift Of “LOVING TO WRITE”…
…Whether I’m Good At It, Or Not.
Do I Have A Painstakingly Cultivated Skill That’s Taken Me Many MANY Years To Merely Get This Far-Along?
Yes.
Yes I Do.
Am I Satisfied With The Results Of Said Cultivation?
No.
No I’m Not.
Why?!
Because That’s The Other Side Of The Coin.
One With This Sort Of Skill Can NEVER Be Totally Satisfied.
Never Never Never Ever Never.
You Can’t Be.
It’s Personal Evolution, My Peeps.
We Keep The Same That Which We Can…
…And We Must Work At Bettering The Rest.
I’ve Been Tinkering With Writing Since The Age Of 3-Years-Old.
I Simply Love Telling Stories.
Whether It Be Fiction, Or Not.
Whether It Be A Review Of Something, Or A Non-Review Review.
Whether It Be (almost) Telling A Humorous Anecdote, Or (almost) Telling A Joke.
Whether It Be Playing Off Of The Quotation Of Another Person.
Each One Requires A Different Type Of Mindset…
…And Therefore A Different Style Of Writing Is Called-For.
If You Do Everything The Same Way, You’re Likely Bound For Eventual Failure.
Granted…
…Eventual Failure Is Part Of Our Community Called Writing.
Not Every Piece You Write Is Going To Be Widely Accepted, Nor Hailed As A Victory.
And All Of This Comes About Through Hard Work, And Determination.
The Skill Of Writing Is Important.
But There Are Other Skills Involved.
And They’re Different For Each And Every Person.
What Motivates One Doesn’t Necessarily Motivate Another.
SO…
…I Want You To Know I DO Plan To Dig A Bit Deeper Inside Myself.
I Want To Be Able To Tackle Any AND Every Topic That Pops Into My Head, Regardless Of How Odd, Or Crazy, It Sounds.
I Want To Be Able To Show-Off My Skills…
…And I Want To Be Able To Continue Evolving My Personal Style.
Evolution…
…In Every Sense Of The Word…
…Is What We’re Chasing Here.
Like They Say…
"Always The Same... ...Always Changing."
That’s How I Feel Abouy This…
…This Writing Bid-nass.
It Can’t Take You Very Far If It’s Just Like Everyone Else’s…
…Nor Can It Take You Very Far If You Don’t Put Yourself Into It.
You Simply Must Must MUST, My Peeps.
And I Will Be.
I Must Must Must.
You Can Win The Hearts And Minds Of A Few Peeps If You Churn-Out The Same-Ole-Same-Ole…
…But I Don’t Want That.
I Want To Win The Hearts And Minds Of A Larger Swath Of Peeps Because They Truly Enjoy What I’m Doing.
And I Sincerely Think People Respect An Artist More-So When Said Artist Is Doing Things A Little Differently Than The Rest Of The Pack.
I Can’t Think About It In Any-Other-Way.
And You Really Shouldn’t, Either.
One MUST To Bring Something New To The Table.
Period.
And I Think I Will.
😀
😉
"You Jivin' Me, Turkey?" 
Very well said my friend. Put yourself out there. Put your whole heart and soul into what you write. Because I can tell you the readers and followers feel it. I know I do when I read your work. The more you do that, the more emotive the writing becomes. I see it in my work. I know that what I want is for my reader to feel. Feel something. Even if it is only from one sentence, I want them to feel it. So darlin’ keep putting yourself out there, be humble of course. But also remember when you put a post up that is exquisite and perfect, that you pat yourself on the back for it. You are damn good Bradley. Damn good.
LikeLike
You’re Pretty Damn Good Yourself, Ms. Renee. Pretty Damn Good, Indeed. 🙂
LikeLike
Getting better ever day babe. Wish there were more hours in the day to do this writing thing. But a girl’s gotta work. Love ya sweetheart!
LikeLike
I can always tell when i have been slacking on rehearsals and it doesn’t pay. My voice is nowhere as strong as it should be or could be. The same is true of writing. At one point I was writing every day for a company that doesn’t pay crap, until I realized my time would be better served focusing on music. So, that is the ticket my friend, work, work and work some more! Peace Jaz
LikeLike
Agreed, Indeed, Ms. Jaz.
Work May Suck Sometimes, But It’s A Necessary Type Of Sucking. There’s No Other Way To Get Better At What You’re Doing Without The Work Portion.
Nifty Comment, Pretty Lady 🙂
I’m Now Wishing I’d Kept Up With The Singing Portion Of My Life, Also hehehe
😉
LikeLike
I’ll gladly teach you…..LOL 😀 BTW, work sucketh….:D Many days I know I have to get my butt into the studio and I am just like YUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! LOL
LikeLike
I do think you bring something new to the table, Brad.
Also, as I may have already said, I reply to your posts out of order sometimes when I see a weightier one, so that I can give that post (or in this instance, THIS post) the attention it deserves.
When you talk about a “gift” for writing, it’s a lot more common than you might think, and yes, you do have it. There are people who can write and people who can’t write–that’s it (and yes, I’ll grant you that there are rare, transcendent talents like Salman Rushdie or William Faulkner who are fucking geniuses). So if a lot of people have the ability to write, what separates what we call “writers” from amateurs? Well, you already answered this question when you talked about your dissatisfaction with your abilities. For those of us who aren’t Rushdies or Faulkners, it all boils down to refining your craft (craft is such a pretentious word, but I think it works here).
You can do it if you want it.
I know what you mean about revealing info on line. It’s only been recently (last six months or so; PT’s been around for 2.5 years!) that I’ve even done autobiographical or personal stuff at all. I’m real skittish about that.
LikeLike
Thank You, RK. It’s Much Appreciated.
And I Do Do It Because I Want It.
Being Accepted As A Legit Writer Has Always Been My Biggest Ambition.
I’m Still Never Happy About My Work, But My Work Makes Me Happy.
Does That Make Sense?!
I Sure As Shit Hope It Does hehehe
-B.
LikeLike
You absolutely got something unique going here. Good mix of the profound and the profoundly insane. And I must admit, it’s insanely appealing. So keep doing you. Because we dig you. You dig?
LikeLike