Article 4 - On Writing
On Writing
Where do they come from? The words? The poems? The stories? The books? From the booze, the fags, the sex, the despair? From happiness, ecstasy, joy and hope? From the dreams we never achieved? From the voices we hear in our nightmares, our jealousies, our fears? Because we see things we hope will never happen? From a desire to escape our realities? Because they are too painful to confront? There is no happiness in writing. Even a happy ending does not promise better things. There is always betrayal, decay and death beyond the final sentence.
So, why write if there’s never a happy ending? Because we have to. Because we want the answer to all our questions. Because there has to be an answer. Something out there that makes all our moments and seconds worthwhile. Because we’re on a quest. In our books. In our thoughts. In our lives. Because what keeps us striviing is the need for redemption. For ultimate salvation. For knowledge of what comes next. Although we will never know. That’s what drives us.
Every book is a quest wrapped into another story. Every poem. Every sequence of words ordered into the semblance of a sentence. A greater whole.
I can’t stop the words. They appear out of nothing. In dreams. In shapes. In colours. In sounds. The voices never stop.
Take an empty notebook and a pen. Carry them around with you. Listen in on other people’s conversations. On buses. On trains. In cafes. In restaurants. In the street. Walk slowly. Loiter. Mishear lyrics from songs on the radio. And write it all down. Cannibalise the world around you for every ounce of mangled word you can gather onto your paper. Scribble. Jot. Doodle. Invent.
Go into a pub. Buy a drink. Sit outside and light a cigarette. The people who talk to you while you’re smoking are infinitely more interesting than the non-smokers inside. As you drink, the people who walk by without talking to you will become more beautiful, more weighed down with secrets and meaning. And all the time, scribble, scratch, draw. You may even fall in love out there.