I over heard a conversation last week……
I lie….I eavesdropped on someone conversation last week,
don’t judge me, it’s what writers do.
The basics of this conversation was “Comics aren’t written by real writers”
I was to say the least tempted to step in and slap the guy upside the head, but I didn’t have a slipper nor a rolled up newspaper.
His ignorance pretty much blew me away.
The frame of mind to believe that just because a story was in comic form removed it from the classification of writing
is ridiculous to say the least!!
We write, we tell stories, short tall long small, we tell a story.
We create worlds, and if we decide destroy them too, his friend tried to explain this same element to him, but to no avail.
It boggles my mind at how people label everything, then cast it down like an old broken toy just because it doesn’t gel with how they perceive it.
I understand everyone has a right to their own opinion, but at least have an ounce of intelligence attached to it!!
I could write stories or poems on match books and randomly hand them out on the street to total strangers, does not remove me from the element of being a writer, I knew someone that believed if you weren’t published then you can’t call yourself a writer, personally I call bullshit on that one, this belief hat we must become famous or get noticed by a Publishing House…have an agent in order to have the ability to call ourselves writers is archaic at best.
I spoke with a writer once, and he said “I’m not a writer, or poet…I’m just me, and I do what I love, but those that write…those that have the need to write, the desire, and love to write, published or not, they are writers…those that vomit a one time piece of crap out of the back end of their ignorant minds, and never again put pen to paper….they were just lucky…but writers?…..no, and sadly they are the ones whom scream their writer status the loudest”
I personally agree with him, I’m sure many do not, your choice at the end of the day.
I could be bias in my thinking for two reasons, one we spoke at a London Comic Convention where he was signing autographs for his latest comic, even though now and then someone would turn up with one of his novels or books of poetry to sign, two I have a relative that writes comics, yet has dozens of novels published as well.
Bias…….maybe, but I have seen both sides of the spectrum in regards to those that write comics, and in most cases, they have many other projects going on aside from comics.
We love what we do when it come to writing, we can’t help ourselves.
A rake propped up against a tree and a half raked lawn prompted me to wonder why the person had stopped, bad news? a heart attack? dinner was ready maybe, or did they just think screw the leaves I’m watching TV…..we have a million different thoughts whirling through our heads from common place objects that in their inaction creates the possibility of a story, and if we choose to use comics as our platform to tell it….who are you to say we suddenly loose that distinction?
Still it is human nature to slap a label on everything and call it good, even this little rant is my talking about the label of writer, I guess it’s the minds way of keeping everything organized and normal
Why anyone would want to be normal is beyond me though…..
CD