On writing

So I was wondering what was my purpose in writing this blog. Obviously I want to share stories and have a venue in which I can publish stories to get feedback. But there is something more. I somewhat wish I could do this for a living, you know, write stories. It seems like something I could enjoy doing. But I was thinking about it and some things don't quite seem right to me. It may sound odd, but I was thinking about Harry Potter, or more precisely J.K. Rowling. We all know the legend about how she was nearly out of money when she penned Harry Potter. Most of us also know the reality wasn't quite like that. However, even as her book was bought she was told to keep her day job. History took a different path, and now I feel the literary market is more open.

I have a confession to make: I have not read Harry Potter, nor do I have real plans to read the series. I am, however, fascinated by the writer. And also the writing process. How do you create such a success? Do you simply write about something you want to talk about, or is there a more commercial approach to the book series? Was Harry Potter the product created to be placed in books, or was the character created and eventually became marketable? One of the effects of the Harry Potter "miracle" is the apparition of multiple books somewhat attempting to follow the same formula, and the chances taken by editors in finding the newest Harry Potter. If you look at recent years, there have been new intellectual properties popping up left and right, and one has to wonder if all the dragons, vampires, and other mystical beings being marketed are only there because someone had success with a wizard.

And you have to wonder what J.K. Rowling was thinking when she wrote that story, before all this pottermania. The more I look into it, the more I see it wasn't about the product but about the character. All of this intrigues me. I think by now I cannot deny that I am trying to become a writer. And sometimes, as a literature student, I have to wonder what I should try to be. These questions are odd to me. I read books as part of my main occupation nowadays. I have to, and quite frankly I enjoy it. But literature is funny. What I read is literature with a capital L, some books even sound like they would need a bunch of other randomly assigned capital letters. We can, and sometimes do, spend a long time discussing what could be seen as the most innocnt part of a book. And the books we read really seem to enjoy throwing these double, triple, quadruple, and even endless levels of meaning. And I admire that. Face value is somewhat boring when you study literature. And no amount of bullshitting would make it possible to write a thesis on "A is Apple, B is Book" type of literature. Every semester, every week, I discover a new author, a new book, and something that could be seen as a new masterpiece. Why is it that even if I read all these books, that even if I am surrounded by all these great authors of Litterature, that I am presented novels that go beyond words being put on paper, all I can think of when I want to be a writer is a book series I haven't read and an author that won't be in any syllabus?

Obviously, I don't want to starve, and I seem to have a contemporary author that sets a bar for literary success. But can I write something like that? And years from now, will Harry Potter books be concidered Literature with the random capitals? Will future student find new levels of meaning in Rowling's work? And these layers of meaning, were they placed in these books by the author? I want to write books that might be seen in my field, but I want to write books that will also be widely received. But is that my mistake, should I just want to write stories? It's not about success, it's about sharing stories. In a sense I understand that, and yet if I am to make a living out of writing, I need to also present a marketable product...

I am surrounded in academia by names such as Urquhart, Van Herk, Cohen, Aquin, Fenario... All these names, all these authors in which we try to find greater meaning that what is on paper. Isn't that what I should aspire to? To write books that are part of Literature? But there is also this nagging feeling, the aspiration to be part of popular culture. Are these feelings conflicting? Can I reconcile them?

I would also need to write longer stories. As you can see by now, I mostly focus on short stories, extremely short, and to the point. This is all fine for this blog, but I have a confession to make: I cannot write longer stories. I always get trapped in between my desire for marketability and my desire for being an Author of Literature. And so I have introductions, I know endings, and yet... And yet I am left wondering if I will ever write something longer.

But I will keep writing, because it's a way for me to practice, it's a way for me to expand my repertoire, and it's a way for me to see how people receive my writing. Maybe one day I will write a novel, maybe one day I will be published, and maybe one day I will be a successful author, or a successful writer... And maybe I should just stop worrying about all this, and sit down with the Harry Potter series and read it. Because I think I need to realise that there are stories to be told, stories to be heard, and that writing is about sharing these stories... So, since I have this wonderful venue, I think I will try to share stories, and that I will try to push myself into changing my writing, because I know I won't write the great stories I wish I could before I can master writing the stories I can write.

I will end on a more managerial note:

The three labels you see under this post are gonna be exlusively reserved for posts about the real me. It will indicate that what you read is not fiction, but me talking to you. Everything else you can assume is fiction, or at the very least creative writing.

Also, I beg of you, please comment on my writing. Anything... Point out what you liked, what you hated, point out anything. I can enjoy flattery, and I can also learn from what you dislike. My future stories will only be better with your comments. Plus, if I get a comment once in a while, it'll motivate me to write more.

Finally, share this blog with all your friends, I really don't know how to promote myself beyond talking about this with people I know.

Thank you for reading.