Like I Have a Choice
A buddy of mine came up to me
the other day and said:
“I finally read a few of your posts
and I really like your writing
but I found that a lot of your stuff
is really dark.
What the hell happened to you?”

“I fell down some stairs.”

“You should try and lighten it up,
people like reading about normal things.”

“This is my normal.”

“Yeah, but I mean,
you would probably get more interest
if you weren’t so twisted.
You should definitely try to
get out there and find some good things
and write about that.
I swear, man, it would really help you.

“I’ll get right on that.”

“And you seem to post a lot. Is that all you do?
You edit your books too?
Dude, that must take up a lot of your time.
Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Hell no, those things are dangerous.”

“Man, nobody reads those self-published books.
You’re lucky to sell one copy.
Why go through all that trouble for nothing?
You’re a smart guy.
There’s so much you could do.
Why put it all into that?”

I really had nothing to say
as he stood there grinning at me
like an idiot
thinking that he was helping me and somehow
completely convinced
that I had a choice
about any of it.

Get a clue, Pal.
I don’t write for them.

I write for me.

You Can’t Write For Them
You have to throw your guts at it.

Your heart and your soul,
take them out too
and give it a good toss
at the page
sitting there blank before you
waiting…

It’s your friend.
It’s your enemy.
It depends on what kind of
day you’re having.

So write about sunshine
or murder
or whatever keeps you writing.
It doesn’t matter what it’s about.
It only matters that you enjoy doing it
because it shows.

But you can’t write for them.
You can’t spend your time
wondering what they might think.
That would be a slow death
that would take you nowhere.

No, you’ve got to bare your soul,
right or wrong.

People may not like it.
Some may even be offended by
what you got going on in there,
you Sicko.

But there is no other way
and if you stay the course
you will grow
and eventually they may catch on
because you may have
something beautiful
inside.

Good luck.