Too Far Over the Hill to be a Writer?

SHERWOOD OWL WILLIFORD
columnist/author

Born in Johnston County, raised in Wayne County. Honored graduate of Grantham High School. A 10-year military veteran. Recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal, twice named base-wide “Airman of the Quarter,” an honor graduate of NCO military Academy. B.S. degree in communications from Brigham Young University.

How early in life should one begin writing?  Well, it stands to reason that no one can claim he’s getting younger or has been given a long straw from which he can perpetually sip from the Fountain of Youth.  So the best answer?   If you’re a Southerner, young or old, I say start rat now!  If you’re from any other part of the country I say start “right” now!

Immediately, some will court the notion, “I want to write but I’m just too darned old to start.”   

And right away I would ask, “Too old? What is the cut-off year for beginners? 

I’ve lived enough years to be considered “old as dirt.”  But even old dirt retains nutrients sufficient to produce something. Just remember this:  Grandma Moses was 78-years-old when she, in earnest, began her painting career.  Forty-five years after her death the painting, “Sugaring Off”, sold for $1.2 million.

I say, I say then, that puts me in a quandary. I’m left to speculate which among my writing masterpieces will fetch the most change?  And then I’m wondering if I should sell while I’m living and enjoy a lifestyle of luxury or let my grandchildren reap the rewards after I’m gone? 

Had I life to live over I would have sprung out of the gate of youth with pen and paper in hand, but there was no encouragement and I simply lacked the will to chance it.  Too many artists with brushes and writers with pens were going hungry. In reality I guess I was just lacking the “fire in the belly”!

But, listen to me anyway!  If you have even an inkling of passion to write, do it. If you never publish a single page of anything it will prove therapy to the soul.  But more importantly you will leave something for posterity.  Most of us have absolutely nothing in writing from our ancestors.  At least you could break that chain of nothingness for the sake of your own children and grandchildren. They’ll treasure you for it. If not immediately, they will in their maturing years.

Now then, with that said, all writing does not have to be for publication.  Ever heard of exchanging letters?  Some wise historically minded folks have boxes, drawers and suitcases full of written letters.  Such mementos are to be cherished.  Today any semblance of exchanges are generally in electronic formats.  That may seem sufficient and okay now, but what will be left to cherish when computers fail, lightning strikes or satellites no longer circle the globe? 

One of the very best ways to leave a true accounting of who you are, comes in the form of journal keeping. Ideally one makes a daily entry, however many find it difficult to maintain such a regiment.  But, even thoughts written now and then will become cherished keepsakes for posterity.

If it’s fiction you prefer creating, here’s a tidbit of advice:  Don’t expect stories to begin in a burning flame.  Just look for a spark and when you find it douse on the kerosene.

Oh, I know; some of you are thinking that when I write some of my “off-the-wall” stuff, that I’ve dumped gasoline on it and that I should have grabbed a fire extinguisher before everything got out of hand. 

Almost everyone has a story to tell and most have the ability to do it.  However, one cannot dream the story into print no more than he can dream his way into heaven.  Writing is like almost everything else worth accomplishing.  It takes discipline, will power, patience and determination and a stick-to-it attitude.  

You may liken writing to a journey.  You can head over the roads to LA’s Hollywood but if you take a break every 30 minutes you’ll probably never see our North Carolina’s Johnny Grant, Anne Jeffreys, Andy Griffith or even Ava Gardner’s engravings on the Walk of Fame.  If you begin a writing project and write in haphazard spurts your name will never be engraved anywhere until, at last, someone stumbles across it on a graveyard tombstone.

Of course, if you’ve never had an inkling or inclination to be a writer, that’s OK. I’m not trying to make a writer out of all, but I will say this: Most people sell themselves short when evaluating their potential writing ability.

I realize very few of us are jacks of all trades.  Why, I’m not even sure which end of the golf club I should hold or which end of the deer rifle I should press against my shoulder.  But many of you are experts, or claim to be, in those endeavors. Why not sit down and tell us about the hole-in-one or how that rack of antlers found its way into your bragging den. There’s a market for such.  Check out “Writer’s Market” at the local library or bookstore. 

That’s exactly what some ladies do with their bridge playing; they tell us in the printed media all about it.  I’ve uncovered articles in local newspapers on the “sport” dating back to the 1930’s.  I don’t read those columns because I don’t know a dad-gummed thang about bridge.  But I’m sure many folks take pleasure in reading every word.

All I know about bridge is that somebody built one that allows me to cross over to the other side of the Neuse River.  And the way I look at it, there are heaps of stories to be told from both sides of the stream.  

I am making no promises but I hope some of them will continue to rise up from this “old pile of dirt.”