When I was in my graduate writing program, regular conferences were required with my main adviser. Her office was comfortable and welcoming, and she was then (and remains) one of the primary influences in my writing life. She could motivate me with a single word, oftentimes a word of challenge. It was the ways she challenged me, compassionately but relentlessly, that made her such a strong and unique influence. I loved her then, and I love her now.
One early conference, as we were just getting to know each other, had to do with the content of the creative work I would do in satisfaction of the Master’s requirements. I don’t remember exactly what I said to her in answer to her opening question, but I remember her face, leaning towards me, open, thoughtful, and then her first comment. “You’re like the ancient mariner - the person with the story that must be told.”
It was the first of many discussions we had about the motivation for story, the urge to write, the undeniable need to tell a particular story. Until I met her, until those conversations, I thought of writing as something I did well, something I’d received praise for from teachers, something that I wanted to do more of, but impractical - who make a living at writing? What I needed to realize is that writing made my life.
I’ve been turning out stories and poetry since I learned to put a pen to the page. I’ve written articles, essays, poems, stories, novels, how-to’s, critiques and reviews. I’ve written for every job I’ve ever had (and likely ever will), and when a day goes by without writing, there is a wrongness to that day.
I needed to realize that writing is my calling. That it doesn’t matter whether I make a living at it, or
If you’re not sure that’s you, if you think so but don’t quite yet understand it, I’m going to do something I rarely do on these pages: recommend a book. Find a copy of Gregg Levoy’s marvelous book Callings. I got my first copy twenty years ago, when it first came out, and, since I have given away multiple copies to friends who were struggling with direction and satisfaction, whether they were writers or not. I was also pleased to have a correspondence with Mr. Levoy for a few years when I, first, asked his permission to use a quote from his book in one of my writings, (which he granted happily), and then to discuss efforts to bring him to speak at my campus. There are only three books in my life I’ve felt strongly enough to buy copies for friends and give them away, and buy more than one copy for myself, and this was one. Read it - do each of the activities he recommends as you encounter them.
Think about the place of writing in your life, reflect on it as you read. If writing is your calling, you will soon be very sure, and know what place it holds for you, and where to begin. In subsequent posts, I will put some adaptations of the activities Levoy recommends, adapted specifically for writers, but, if clarity is what you desire, if you need assurances, need a strong foundation for your writing, begin there - with his book, and the process it will take you through.
