Quantity with Zest

"...If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer....that you are not being yourself. You don't even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is--excited." --Ray Bradbury, "The Joy of Writing"

"Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can quality come." --Ray Bradbury, "Zen in the Art of Writing"

One of the pleasures of Ray Bradbury is his obvious pleasure in his own work. He wrote a story a week for most of his life. He did it out of desire and need. And look at his "excitement": Dandelion Wine or Fahrenheit 451 could establish someone alone, but those are only two of his pieces! Bradbury is not half a writer.

For the last eight months I've been writing with diligence and duty. Quantity of time, not necessarily pages. Weight of sentences, not meaning. Zest? Zest like the curling ribbon rind of an orange or lime? Gusto like the bravado of a triumphant opera star? Not so much. The red streak in my personality allows me to schedule breathing to the minute, but the blue majority craves some space, some fun (and granted, my idea of leisure is primarily based on the definition of "work").

My graduate classes have been so determined to help me along my way and enable me to formulate my personal writing theory that I've been stifled. How can I write about what I do when I am not doing it! My work has seemed primarily artificial for this reason. I have theory behind me, pages of annotated bibliographies--but I haven't enjoyed my writing for almost a year. That must change. (Call this a manifesto.)

I don't anticipate busting out the most amazing drafts ever this summer, but I will write with zest, gusto, quantity. The analytical experience I've acquired...I'd like more creative--excitement.