Writers write.

I am sure this is going to come as a huge surprise and shock to all of you but I dreamed of being a writer when I was younger. I think most people who are avid readers entertain the idea at one point or another. I bought a lot of books on what it takes to be a writer. (Stephen King On Writing is brilliant by the way) Two things stuck with me from the time period where I was sure I was going to be a writer. One is my father-in-law telling me that just because you can read doesn't mean you can write. The other is a line in one of the writing books I read that put it quite plainly. Writers write.

The author expounded on that sentence, that if you are a writer you HAVE to write. It's almost a compulsion. I have the honor of being friends with a few people who are very talented and gifted writers. Poets, musicians, short stories and novels, and it's true. Writers write. You give them an idea, or a jumping off point and they will weave a story out of it. (check out Snippets by Shay a blog I follow for an example) I thought for a long time that because I am not compelled to put pen to paper at all hours of the day that I must not be a "writer". But the other day as I was folding laundry and my mind was going a hundred miles a minute as is its wont, I realized that I am constantly "writing". I am just lousy at sitting down and putting it into a form that others can see.

When C was little he would climb in bed with Brent and I on Saturday and Sunday mornings and I would tell him stories while Brent tried to sleep in. Fourteen years later we still have jokes about those stories. "I am pretty sure he was shot", trust me to C and I that is comedy gold! When I was a teenager I would tell stories to my youth group as we were traveling on the bus. When I first started at the agency I wove a story out of the salad and baby corn that started my friendships with the front office staff.

My father was and is a storyteller. He can lead you down the path of what happened to him on the way home from work and you don't realize until the very last second that it was all an elaborate setup for a joke. He also has always been a firm believer that you should never let the facts get in the way of a good story. I have borrowed liberally from him in my style. I had a girlfriend tell me once, "I love when you tell about what happened when we did something because I am always much wittier and funnier than I remember being." I am not opposed to a quick rewrite and edit on the fly. If I had a good line during the conversation I will often "give" it someone else in the retelling. If it was actually said and it would be funnier if someone else said it, then I don't have a problem moving the dialog around for a better story. And that is the conclusion that I think I have come to. Writers write. But Storytellers, well we just like to tell stories.