The joy of writing

"I probably won't quit until I just quit everything -- quit my life -- because it's all I know how to do," he told the AP at the time. "And it's fun. I do have fun writing, and a long time ago, I told myself, 'You got to have fun at this, or it'll drive you nuts.'" - Elmore Leonard

Sad to hear we've lost a great author today. He was always one of my favorites. Elmore Leonard knew how to write dialogue like no other, and he always created the most interesting characters. What stood out about his characters was most of the time they weren't even good people, yet they were always interesting and you always wanted to follow along. He'll be missed.

But I'm not writing a post to bum people out, or at least, I'll try not to! I saw the above quote, and I think Leonard said it best. Writing is fun. It's a lot of work, and it can stress you out at times... but at the end of the day, you have to be having fun.

Even writing something as brutal and disturbing as GIGGLES, I had a lot of fun. And even when I wrote really depressing stories in my short story collection, IN DECLINE, I always had fun. Sounds hard to believe, but it's true.

Creating something, no matter how depressing or dark, can bring such joy. On the days where I feel like I've accomplished the most, those are the days where I ended up doing a lot of writing. I feel bummed when I've written nothing. Even the simple act of editing or tightening up a current project still brings me joy, because I'm still creating.

So when you read something I've written, no matter how dark and gut wrenching it can be, please know that I had FUN. (and hopefully, you'll have fun reading!)