A writer? WATCH OUT!

Some of us should not be writing--in fact many of us (speaking of all humans) should not be.

It's way too easy these days to throw words--and thoughts--out in the world.
Sometimes we write too much (even in tweets) and think too little.

So, what are we supposed to be thinking before we write?  If we are story tellers we are writing our stories in our minds. Good. Most times, a story has to be carefully considered before words are set down. We are thinking for our characters, (and, though we often don't consider this, exposing a bit who we are and what we think of our readers as well).  One step at a time, a page of words at a time, we make sense out of some sort of chaos we have created out of our world perception. Our thoughts, our ideas, tell us how our story people can sort things out, find solutions, re-organize their world before "The End."  And, all along, we are conscious, I believe, that we are sharing with a potential reader. Will we entertain? Will we, perhaps, enlighten, send a reader's thoughts in a new direction? If so, what direction?  Yes, there is much value in fiction, in the past as well as today.  (Charles Dickens and Harper Lee?)

As to other writing?  Once we wrote on stone, carefully chiseling words one scrape at a time. Plenty of time to think. Then we made marks in clay, moved on to using colored liquid to write on leather, discovered how to make a type of paper, and . . . .  You know the history.  All of this took time and we didn't waste it on rants before we thought. We shared accumulated history, our carefully pondered observations, researched ideas, and, rarely, stories of fiction. There was little time wasted on writing "This is what I  think about the world" as it popped off the top of our heads.

But today?  Too often it's a quick click of fingers on keys the minute a thought pops. Instant publishing. Angry, unconsidered words thrown out. And some of them are even fiction though the writer doesn't think of it that way. I just typed "think" didn't I.  I wonder.

 What do you think?

Radine @
http://www.RadinesBooks.com