They Make It Look Easy...

I had intended this post to be related to a Huffington Post article on the state of reading in America, but after a couple weeks' hiatus and a whole lot of those weeks spent writing in other contexts, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge how hard it is to write well. 

The revelation came to me as I sat finishing up an article for a newsletter this evening, after throwing together various eleventh hour midterm essays (ah, the joys of still being a student).  Some of my work was researched from journal articles and reports, while the article was based on recordings and notes from an interview I'd conducted.  The style was prescribed, the vocabulary and voice predefined by expectations, and yet, I still had to take this information and tell stories with it.  Not just comprehensive stories, clear-cut and well defined, but articulate stories.  And this was just for 700 word essays that, with any luck, no one will ever be forced to read. 

Now imagine your favorite book.  There was no grading rubric there, no starting scaffold conveniently laid out by thoughtful instructors.  Imagine the wealth of information that went into that book, and how much more there must have been that spilled out of the pages and ended up in the wastepaper bin.  Imagine how complex it was for that author to sit down and string all of those pieces together.  Imagine how many times it took before that stringing and piecing resulted in something worth polishing, and imagine how many hours were spent in agonizing, tedious polishing.  Savor how much effort went into this final product that you're holding, understanding that even now there are probably still passages that give the author fits to read them over.  If you're anything like me, you read voraciously, book after article after story.  How often do we really take the time to consider how much went into the little paper packet or digital file before us?  Whether you like the book or not, you have to know that somewhere, someone cried over it, tears of frustration, or rage, or simply relief that the herculean task of creating such a thing was done. 

Today, I challenge you to do this.  Take a moment.  Thank your favorite authors, journalists, or screenwriters.  In a world of social media, it shouldn't be too hard to do.  Thank the people whose vision has helped shape the wonderful stories that fill our lives.  It's not an easy task, and, if it's done right, it's a thankless one.  See, it's never about the storyteller.  It's all about the story, in every gory, aching, exquisite, infinitesimal detail.  Writers are remarkable people doing remarkable work.  Don't they make it look easy?