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Now Where Were We?
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John Caruso
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Apr 06, 2004 13:16 PDT
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Yup, it’s been a while. Time to shake off that layer of dust, scrape
away the rust, smell those proverbially bloomin’ flowers. I’m very
excited to sit once again in the comfy Daily Grind chair. I’d like to
welcome all the new subscribers and I hope we didn’t loose too many
long-timers over the past nine months. Nine months? Has it been THAT
long? Surely we all have our novels done by now. Mine’s here somewhere.
No, really, it was just here a minute ago. I hope the dog didn’t eat it.
Ha.
With the new Coffeehouse For Writers (hello, thank you, and
congratulations to new owners Jim and Carol), our little corner of the
writers’ playpen known as The Daily Grind has been --choose one of the
following-- a) reborn in a fresh, dewy, neoteny-eyed splendor, ready to
face the wide world with a child’s curiosity and rejuvenated zest, or,
b) slapped out of a Scotch hazed semi-slumber, doused with a coffee can
full of collected rain water, and given a swift kick in the seat of its
torn and tattered jeans. Either way, we have returned.
I hope you all remember what The Daily Grind is all about. Beyond all
the tips and beyond all the verbal flotsam and jetsam I’ll send you
every first and third Monday of the month, The Daily Grind is about
writing. Take the tips and use them. Or don’t. It doesn’t matter at all
as long as you just write. Of course I hope that you take something away
from each article, it’s why I do it. But even if you ignore my
blathering and simply take time to write whenever The Grind shows up,
you’ll be working toward being a better writer.
For the first tip of The Daily Grind, Mark II, I would like to revisit
the first post I ever made. At that time, like now, I wanted to stress
the importance of what we all do:
“Of all the tips that I have ever learned, or will ever present to the
group, this one is the most elemental: write. I know it sounds clichéd,
and even obvious, but it takes an existential leap of faith before we
can honestly embrace it as truth. What makes us writers is our WRITING.
Formal classroom training, workshops, retreats, seminars, books--all of
these are simply tools. We can use them in any combination we find
helpful. Ultimately, however, we need to sit down, put pen to paper (or
fingers to keys), and just write.
“In the coming weeks and months, I will be discussing a cornucopia of
tips: some simple, some a bit more involved. Some may even be useful to
you. However, all of them will be directed at examining this odd,
beautiful, frustrating and transcendent devotion we all share: WRITING.”
I look forward to exploring our craft with you, to learning with you, to
writing. As I surreptitiously slipped in there a few paragraphs back,
The Daily Grind will come to you on the first and third Monday of each
month. Yes, I know today’s is Tuesday, that’s just how it worked out. In
playground parlance, “just sue me.”
Better yet, go scribble something.
John Caruso
joh-@coffeehouseforwriters.com
Copyright 2004, John Caruso
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