Richard P. Rigoli & Suzanna Reeves

If You Sing, You’re a Singer. If You Write…

I keep my family up on all the creative endeavors I’ve been involved in over the years. They have been supportive and amazed at everything from producing albums to writing books. I have to say that motivation is the single most important ingredient that takes a creative idea and makes it manifest. Being able to complete a thing is the one defining factor which sets writers apart like Stephanie Meyer (even though disgruntled authors don’t think she and others like her are real writers. I think her bank account would disagree.)

One of my daughter’s dreams has been to be an author. In the search for self-motivation, she previously tried two NaNoWriMos in a row and never made it to the deadline either time. I pushed her to finish one of her books, afterward she eventually self-published it. She often said that it was too hard to do a book in a month and added, “Youtry and write a book in a month!”  In November 2011, I secretly signed up for NaNoWriMo. I took one of my many story ideas, began an outline, casted my characters, and prepared ground work. I finished my 50k book one day before the deadline …and so did my daughter as she likes competition. Traditionally a published novel is longer in length. However, what I learned from the experience is that I can finish and complete it, whatever “it” is (music, albums, lesson plans, textbooks, art…) I guess I was kind of born with an internal self-motivation generator.

My step-mom wrote recently that she is writing her memoirs about  living during post WWII. She said she wanted to talk about her experiences and that it was just a book just for the family because she “wasn’t a real writer.” Julia Cameron, known for The Artist Way series says that if you write, you’re a writer. There is no qualification test that is required before you can officially be labeled a writer.  If you finish what you write then you have a book, a short story, a script, an album, a textbook, a memoir, or other.

I understand the sentiment from novice writers. In the past, I’ve also said that I wasn’t a real writer.  There will always be the virtuosos among us who are like the Paganinis of violinists. They are the authors that exhibit skillful deployment of language as easily as Rembrandt painted portraits.  However, writing books is by its very nature, storytelling.  There isn’t a standardized test to take or threshold to cross that suddenly qualifies a person as a writer. I also want to add that it doesn’t require an English degree either.

We take an English classes and expect the teacher to be a writer or know everything about writing. How come we don’t expect the same thing from the Spanish teacher? Why isn’t the French teacher writing novels? When you look at it this way, you see that learning the components for a language isn’t the same thing as constructing stories. That’s like saying you must be an expert at music theory and reading music notation to be a musician. Sorry to say this Jimi Hendrix, but… (Of course he was a musician!)

We do hope that the writers we invest our money and time in do have a grasp of language building and grammar. However, I conclude that it is not a requirement in order to be a writer or storyteller, or even a successful one. Whether it is good enough for the masses depends on what you put into it and how much you are willing to craft it, or have a passion for it.

Ultimately, you have to finish it first.

If you sing, you’re a singer.

If you paint, you’re a painter.

If you write, you’re a writer.