Wednesday, July 15, 2020

The hardest part of writing.

I had a long phone call the other day with a denizen of the ad industry whom I had never met before. I have a fair number of these tête-à-tête with Linked In connections or Facebook "friends" or so on. 

They're people who find me due to my capacious and prodigious online presence. It usually takes me some time (I am busier with work than ever before in my life) but eventually we usually find a way to have a word or two. Sometimes these things are frustrating; most often, I'm pleased to know someone and glad I made their acquaintance.

This particular fellow was a very brainy guy. Despite that, he told me he's been enjoying my blog for some time and can't get over how much I write.

We then began talking about my start-up, which couldn't be going better even if I actually knew what I was doing. I admitted that I have five retained accounts, a couple of projects and was busier than a serrated knife at an Oneg Shabbat. That said, I told him, I'd like one really big account. 

He paused for a minute. The people I'm most-apt to get along with have, in general, comedic timing to rival George Burns, who would roll his cigar while waiting for the tension to build, or Jack Benny who, prop-less, would fumble and look at the camera in befuddlement.

"You'll get the client, George," he assured me. "You're an excellent writer--fast and clarifying and prolific. You're just what clients need. Not a lot dilatory, pontificating masturbation."

"I should be good," I answered. "I haven't missed a day of writing in fourteen years. It's like exercise to me. If I don't do it, I feel loggy and lethargic. Besides, it's practice. At this point in my blogging life I've probably written one-million and a quarter words. I'm bound to have improved through that just as if I were a point guard and had taken that many practice shots."

That was it for the phone call. We promised to stay in touch and talk now and again. Just after I hung up, I noticed the cartoon below from "The New York Times." It's about the practice of writing and what keeps you from practicing.

That's the other thing about working at your craft assiduously on a regular basis.

You find a fair amount of serendipity along the way.
--
What Is the Hardest Part of Writing?



A cartoonist gets down to the crux of what makes putting pen to paper so difficult.








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Grant Snider is a cartoonist, author and illustrator. His most recent book is “I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf.”

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