James Baldwin quote

[sun_set_bravely]

"If you are going to be a writer there is nothing I can say to stop you; if you're not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you. What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is real."
-James Baldwin

Comments

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

In some ways, this is why I never say I am a writer.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

What do you mean by that?

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

My response seems much more aggressive than I intended. What I meant to say was: what about this quote makes you say that?

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to be cryptic that way, and your response did not seem aggressive.

I meant two different, opposing things by that. One thing I meant was that to the extent that writing is a "vocation" such that a "real" writer is unstoppable and a faux writer is "unreachable". For me, writing is fun, and sometimes real fun. So I don't have the vocation for either a "real writer" or an earnest "faux writer".

The other thing I meant was that when writing becomes a mystic order rather than something people do to communicate, then that notion of the "mystic writer" appeals to me less.

But it is a cool quote.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

What I like best about the quote is the last sentence: What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is real. That's the essence that I took from his words, not that he was necessarily qualifying anyone as a "real" or "fake" writer. I agree with you that a person is a writer as soon as they put words on a page, not when they get published, have a fan base, or win a prize.

[princessinabox.livejournal.com]

I like that the effort is what's real, not the accomplishment of being published, etc. It's so frustrating to tell someone you're a writer and to have them ask you if you've been published and responding by lowering your eyes slightly and saying no.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

That's exactly why I liked this quote so much. The effort is real, it's what truly matters, and it's what makes you writer more than any other external indicators.